The Jockey Club's investigation into one of Kieron Fallon's rides at Lingfield on Tuesday took another twist today after it was reported in the British press that £1.5 million sterling in bets was placed on the Betfair.com exchange for the champion jockey to lose the race.
The Co Clare jockey was on board Ballinger Ridge and was beaten into second place after apparently easing up one furlong from the winning post. His mount was eventually caught on the line by odds-on favourite Rye.
Race officials refused to either name the individuals or reveal how many were involved with their direct participation in the markets that prompted Betfair to alert Portman Square ten minutes before race went off.
A typical offence of this kind normally carries a maximum 21-day ban but because of the suspicious circumstances the racecourse stewards referred the case to Jockey Club Headquarters.
"Our monitoring of the exchanges does not simply revolve around what bets are matched on-screen," said Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse in the Racing Post.
"As we have previously publicly stated, there are some ongoing inquiries being conducted by the security department into races which were the subject of suspicious betting patterns."
There has been no inquiry date set as "it will take a bit of time to check the betting patterns," according to the Jockey Club.
"Some investigations never go to an inquiry. If the investigation does not turn up enough evidence, for example, then no inquiry will be held. In this case, though, there will definitely be a meeting of the disciplinary panel over the dropping of hands as it is a riding offence," a Jockey Club spokesperson confirmed.
Some 100 punters booed six-time champion jockey Fallon on his return to the weighing room at Lingfield on Tuesday.
The horse's trainer Andrew Balding said Ballinger Ridge was a difficult horse to ride and the incident looked worse than it was.