RACING: Concerns about the probity of horse racing returned to haunt the sport yesterday after Kieren Fallon, the British champion flat jockey, was caught in a newspaper sting apparently offering inside information to journalists posing as wealthy gamblers.
The revelations, in the London-based News of the World, include allegations that Fallon told reporters that one of his mounts would lose - three hours before he lost an apparently impregnable lead on the horse in controversial circumstances.
Last Tuesday Fallon was 10 lengths clear on Ballinger Ridge, second favourite for a maiden race at Lingfield, when he began to slow and was beaten on the line by the favourite, Rye. Shortly before the race, the Jockey Club was notified by Betfair, an internet betting exchange, that the race had been the subject of "suspicious betting patterns". Around £1.48 million was traded on the race on Betfair, a significant amount for a minor event.
The Jockey Club will decide today whether to impose an immediate 21-day suspension on Fallon for failing to "ride out" for first place.
It will investigate whether there is any link between Fallon's tip to reporters and these suspicious bets, which are believed to relate to accounts held by two big gamblers who have been investigated in the past. It is expected to contact the jockey in the next few days.
The Fallon revelations are a blow to the sport 10 days before the start of the Cheltenham Festival, the showpiece event of the jump racing season and a highlight of the racing year.
After the Ballinger Ridge race, Fallon, a veteran of 19 seasons and champion jockey six times in the last seven years, claimed it was an honest mistake. The Jockey Club said yesterday it was not in possession of evidence that proved the horse was deliberately held back.
Nevertheless, his comments to the News of the World reporters will fuel the suspicions of sceptics who believe the sport operates on the margins of legitimacy. Fallon agreed to meet the reporters believing them to be wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen interested in investing in racing.
Fallon apparently offered them several tips, including the information that Ballinger Ridge would not win.
"I'm actually down as the favourite, it's not very good . . . Rye, that will win," he allegedly told a reporter, advising him to "go heavy" on Rye to win.
Yesterday John Maxse, the Jockey Club's director of public relations, said the investigation into Fallon was now its "number one priority". He said Paul Scotney, head of security at Portman Square, would review the News of the World's dossier.
John Blake, the Jockeys' Association chief executive, gave his support to Fallon.
"I have spoken to Kieren this morning and from a private family point of view, he's very disappointed, and that's his chief concern at the moment," he said.
"There is no evidence whatsoever that he has received any reward for giving his opinion on certain rides he had, and that there has been a breach of the rules of racing."
