Horse racing-Cheltenham-winning trainer banned for four years

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Trainer Howard Johnson, a winner at the Cheltenham Festival three times with the top-class staying hurdler Inglis Drever, was banned for four years on Friday for breaching rules over horse welfare.

Johnson, who also faced charges of administering steroids to three horses in his care, ran a horse called Striking Article eight times after it had undergone a palmar neurectomy.
The procedure involves severing nervous connection to the lower leg to cause numbness and is banned on welfare grounds.
Johnson, 58, had told a disciplinary panel he was not aware of the rule saying the horse should not have run.
Paul Struthers, head of communications for the British Horseracing Authority, said in a statement: "The authority is satisfied that the disciplinary panel has imposed a significant and appropriate sanction for what were two different but very serious offences.
"A four-year disqualification means that Howard Johnson is unable to work in or have any involvement with racing, including a prohibition on entering licensed premises such as training yards or racecourses, not just in Britain but the rest of the world." (Editing by Ed Osmond)