Knott puts Hunt Ball up for sale

Anthony Knott will sell high-class chaser Hunt Ball

Hunt Ball will go under the hammer next month after he was supplemented into the Doncaster Bloodstock Sales...

Anthony Knott is to relinquish ownership of the Cheltenham Festival-winning eight-year-old - a day after trainer Keiran Burke had asked him to take the horse away from his Dorset yard.

The British Horseracing Authority recently handed out fines to Knott and Burke after Hunt Ball ran with a bookmaker's name printed on his hindquarters at this year's Festival.

Knott claimed it was an effort to raise money for charity, but the BHA said the trainer and the owner had acted "in a manner deemed prejudicial to the good name of the sport".

"I've just had enough of it all at the moment," said Knott.

"The news yesterday came out of the blue so I put him in the sales this morning. The fine didn't help. All we were trying to do was raise money for the air ambulance and a 4,000 fine just felt like a kick in the teeth.

"There's no doubt he'll make someone a great Saturday horse. You mark my words, all this horse needs is fast ground and he's top class. The only time he got it this year he could have broken the track record with 12st at Taunton."

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