The BHA has been urged to review a raft of lease agreements which have been used by trainers to race horses previously suspended from running due to their ownership by Phoenix Thoroughbreds and Phoenix Ladies Syndicate.

A number of horses previously listed as being owned by the group have run this month after being leased from Phoenix by their trainers, following BHA approval, and hold entries in races including the Qipco 2,000 Guineas, Matchbook Yorkshire Cup and Tote Chester Cup.

Ralph Beckett, the Classic-winning trainer, warned the leases could open up a "can of worms” and provide cover for sanctioned individuals to race horses if the scrutiny by the regulator is not sufficiently rigorous.

The arrangement has come to light at the same time as Phoenix suffered yet another significant blow to its crumbling empire after high-profile ally Aquis Farm terminated its partnership with the organisation after it was revealed last week that two leading Australian racing authorities were withholding prize-money payments to Phoenix.

Phoenix has been under intense scrutiny since its founder Amer Abdulaziz Salman, 57, who boasted of creating an equine behemoth to rival Coolmore, Godolphin and Juddmonte, was named in a New York court in 2019 as allegedly being a key money-launderer for $4 billion cryptocurrency Ponzi scam OneCoin. Abdulaziz denies the allegations.

Last September, Phoenix and Phoenix Ladies had their racing accounts frozen by the BHA pending further investigation into the source of the group’s multi-million-pound spending, while Abdulaziz had declared his intention the previous month to cease racing in Britain “with immediate effect” following repeated questions about his funding.

Fast Medicine, second at Catterick on Wednesday, was the latest horse to race in Britain having carried the Phoenix colours last year and not been sold to new owners.

Trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam said a lease was in place allowing him to run Fast Medicine and other horses, including Old Newton Cup winner Deja and Ribblesdale fourth Bharani Star, for his own company Fairlawns Racing.

"They're only being leased," Chapple-Hyam said. "Phoenix get no financial reward in their favour and I'm afraid to say until they start winning, neither do I.

"Phoenix don't get any benefit whatsoever. You don't have to pay to lease. You can do, but put it this way, I was never going to and it was never mentioned.

"I couldn't afford to buy them, so it was either that or stand there looking at them in the box every day, getting no money in and at the end of it say to my lads, ‘Well that's it, goodbye’, and lay off all my lads. I'm getting no training fees for these horses, no nothing until they start winning prize-money. So it might be short-lived." 

John Quinn has also raced Phoenix horses this year, with Frankenstella and Yukon Mission running under his name. He declined to discuss the ownership arrangements.

A number of Phoenix horses were sold or retired last year – the group continues to operate its breeding arm in Britain which includes foals, yearlings, mares and shares in stallions Aclaim and Advertise at the National Stud in Newmarket – but it left a handful with trainers despite being unable to race them.

Beckett, who takes over as president of the National Trainers Federation this year, says the fact these horses can continue racing is alarming and he proposes a stoppage on prize-money won by the horses unless they are sold by Phoenix.

“My personal view is that by letting Phoenix lease horses to other people you are opening up a can of worms for letting people operate in the sport who will not pay for the training of their horses and for people who shouldn’t be involved at all,” he said. 

“The BHA took their lead from France Galop when it came to stopping Phoenix operating in Britain, and perhaps they should look at how the Australian authorities have frozen prize-money as a means of disincentivising any of these leases.”

All leases from Phoenix have been approved by the BHA, which said it was able to look into any arrangements if it had concerns.

“We cannot comment on the specifics of any leasing arrangements or possible leasing arrangements. When a horse is leased, it must be lodged with the BHA and the BHA has the ability to investigate if it has any concerns regarding a lease,” a spokesman said.

The future of Phoenix's operation in Australia was also thrown into further doubt on Wednesday when Aquis, the ownership vehicle of Hong Kong property mogul Tony Fung, dramatically ended its big-spending relationship with Abdulaziz.

The partnership had spent A$11.6m (£6.46m/€7.48m) on 19 yearlings in January, as well as racing the likes of star juveniles Farnan and Prague together, but Aquis is seeking to immediately terminate all co-ownerships after discovering through media reports in Australia Phoenix was having its prize-money withheld by racing authorities.

“That conduct of Phoenix has failed to meet our expectations,” a spokesman for Aquis told the Australian Financial Review. “Phoenix failed to be honest and transparent with us over the prize-money freeze, which has rendered the relationship untenable. 

“We have sought further clarification from Phoenix multiple times since late last week over matters of their relationship with racing regulatory bodies in Australia, but they completely failed to answer questions. The matter has been placed in the hands of our lawyers.” 

In a statement, Phoenix said it regarded the prize-money freeze "an internal matter" and that it had "not considered it appropriate to involve other parties".