Top jockey David Bass branded a ‘total muppet’, ‘idiot’ and ‘pathetic’ by irate punter in abusive email to trainer

AN irate punter branded jockey David Bass ‘pathetic’ and a ‘total muppet’ – just two days before he rode a Grade 1 winner at Ascot.

Trainer Kim Bailey received the abusive email from the bettor, identified only as ‘Scott A’, and made it public on his blog.

Bass, who is on course for a career-best season with 47 winners so far, gave First Flow a ballsy ride to cause a 14-1 upset in the Clarence House Chase.

But the punter was incensed with Bass’ ride aboard Balleticon at Ludlow last Thursday.

The horse was sent off the 5-4 favourite but could only finish fourth, beaten around 10 lengths having tried to make all the running.

The email read: “For gods sake get rid of this idiot he has no clue how to ride your good horses.

“Totally loses his bottle weak and pathetic as a rider no strength no drive a total muppet do us all a favour.”

Bailey is a staunch ally of stable Bass, a vegan and a punk rocker who is one of the most popular jockeys in the weighing room.

The veteran trainer ended a 26-year Grade 1 drought when First Flow lowered the colours of Politologue, and he was beaming with pride for both horse and rider after the race.

Bailey said post-race: “When he started engaging Politologue down the back, I did think ‘he’s an effing idiot what on earth is he doing?!’

“But I love David riding my horses, he does the unpredictable and he does it very well.

“The last thing I said to him before the race was ‘go for it’ and he did.

“Like his riding style or not David Bass tries. He like First Flow wears his heart on his sleeve.

“David is a bit of a nutter – and nuts are a big part of his diet as a vegan – but he knows how to ride these horses on the big occasions.”

But abuse towards jockeys is nothing new, and they’re regularly on the receiving end of bile on social media when things don’t go to plan.

Promising young rider Lilly Pinchin revealed to Sun Racing that she had considered closing her Twitter account because of abuse from punters.

Ruby Walsh led the fightback in 2017, famously creating a video, which has over 700k views, mocking Twitter trolls.

But the abuse remains a problem, and the Professional Jockeys’ Association last year called for the social media companies to crack down on offenders and close their accounts.

PJA chief Paul Struthers said: “We know social media abuse is a major issue for jockeys generally, and across sport.

“We would call on social media organisations to take this issue far more seriously than they do and ban any individual who abuses athletes this way.”

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