TYNESIDE business mogul Graham Wylie is to send selected racehorses to two top trainers after the banning of County Durham-based Howard Johnson.

Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins, the respective British and Irish champion jumps trainers, will be the recipients of the select team of horses Mr Wylie plans to keep in training.

The move comes after the four-year ban from the sport imposed on Mr Wylie’s principal trainer Howard Johnson, who subsequently announced his retirement.

The millionaire owner – former boss of Sage Computing – intends to drastically cut his string to just 20 horses, having had nearly 80 with Mr Johnson.

Six horses had already joined Mr Nicholls prior to Johnson’s suspension, and another seven, including 2008 Arkle hero Tidal Bay, will take their place in the team at Ditcheat.

Mr Wylie will also have horses trained in Ireland for the first time, with the exciting Back In Focus among those to join Mullins in County Carlow.

He said: “I’m going down to 20 horses and I will only have two trainers. I’ll have the best in the UK, which is Paul Nicholls, and the best in Ireland, which is Willie Mullins. Paul will have 13 of the horses and Willie will train seven.

“All the rest of my horses will be going to the sales. I’m looking forward to the season.”

Mr Johnson announced his retirement from horse racing last week after being banned from the profession by the British Horseracing Authority for four years for breaking welfare rules, following a hearing.

The 58-year-old was convicted of nine charges relating to doping and horse welfare by a disciplinary panel.

Mr Wylie had 78 horses in training with Mr Johnson, most of them at his farm near Crook.

He said moving his stable out of the region was “a sad day for northern horse racing”.