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 Greg Wood |
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| • Bans total
66 years including two of 14 years each for owners • Paul Scotney blames Maurice Sines and James Crickmore The largest and most complicated investigation into alleged corruption ever conducted by the British Horseracing Authority concluded on Wednesday when racing's regulator found 11 individuals, including two owners, two current jockeys and two former jockeys, guilty of serious breaches of the sport's rules. The 11 figures in what the tribunal found to be a conspiracy that included three cases of horses deliberately being "stopped" by their riders were banned from the sport for a combined total of 66 years and six months. The case, which centred on 10 races at five different courses between January and August 2009, ended with 14-year bans for the racehorse owners Maurice Sines and James Crickmore, who were found to be the organisers of a conspiracy in which horses were laid to lose on betting exchanges. The BHA's disciplinary panel also imposed 12-year bans from racing on Paul Doe and Greg Fairley, both former jockeys, who were found to have deliberately failed to obtain the best possible placing for their horses. Doe was found to have stopped Edith's Boy at Lingfield in March 2009 and Terminate at Bath in July 2009, while Fairley was found to have breached the rules on The Staffy at Wolverhampton in March 2009. Two current jockeys, both of whom were riding in races on Wednesday afternoon, also received bans. Kirsty Milczarek, who rode Microlight to victory at Lingfield, was banned for two years after the BHA found her guilty of conspiring to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice and a breach of the rules on passing privileged information. Christopher Stewart-Moore, Milczarek's solicitor, said in a statement on Wednesday night that she intends to appeal against the disciplinary panel's decision. "We think the panel's reasoning is flawed and we're going to be appealing to the BHA," the statement said, "as Kirsty was not involved in any conspiracy of any kind". Jimmy Quinn, a veteran of the weighing room whose most significant success came when he took the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York in 2007, was banned for six months after the tribunal found him guilty of conspiring to commit a fraudulent practice. It is unclear whether he intends to appeal. Both Milczarek and Quinn had booked rides at race meetings on Thursday afternoon but they will be unable to take up their engagements as their bans – which stop them entering any racecourse or any training yard – came into effect at midnight. All those found to have breached the rules have seven days in which to lodge an appeal against the panel's decision. Paul Scotney, the BHA's security director, said in a statement after the findings had been announced that "what lies at the heart of this investigation are the actions of two individuals, Maurice Sines and James Crickmore, who, together with their associates, were prepared to corrupt jockeys and to cheat at betting by the misuse of 'inside information'. "We take no pleasure in uncovering such serious breaches of the Rules of Racing. However, the findings of the Disciplinary Panel vindicate the hard work of the BHA's Integrity and Compliance teams. In the BHA's history, the scale and complexity of this case is unprecedented." |
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| Stan James
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