Legendary trainer Dick Hern has broken his silence over his controversial sacking by The Queen to attack the behaviour of Her Majesty`s racing manager the Earl of Carnarvon.
There was uproar in racing in 1988 when the three-time Derby winner was dismissed, as he lay in hospital with heart trouble.
Hern kept silent on the controversy at the time but he told today`s Daily Telegraph: 'What really riled me is that when he wanted to tell me I was finished instead of coming to see me in hospital and looking me in the eye he summoned my poor wife.'
Hern, who was eventually allowed by The Queen to stay in house he had lived in since 1962, handed over his training licence to Neil Graham until resuming in 1989.
He recalled having to send out letters to his owners, telling them he was giving up his licence.
'I was so weak and gaga I didn`t know what I was signing,' he said. 'Had I been compos mentis I would never have done it. There was absolutely no reason why I should relinquish my licence. My assistant could have held it or Sheilah could have got a special temporary one. It was a dirty trick.'
But the Daily Telegraph, which is serialising Hern`s authorised biography, also reported that Carnarvon claims to have acted 'according to the book' at the time, and that it was the Jockey Club who prevented the trainer`s wife from taking over the licence.
