Derby Day 2011

The jockeys have been making the news today... There were two stand-out rides at Epsom earlier, from Ryan Moore aboard Saint Nicholas Abbey in the Coronation Cup and from Johnny Murtagh who pinched the Oaks from the front on Dancing Rain. Frankie Dettori found himself in trouble with the stewards after the Oaks, having been found guilty of dropping his hands and losing third place; he has been hit with a ten day ban. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Kieren Fallon will be able to ride in tomorrow's Derby after the owner of Native Khan took out a High Court injunction to prevent the jockey from riding Aidan O'Brien's Recital; the judge initially ruled he would not prevent Fallon from riding but the decision has been taken to appeal - the result is due at 0900 Saturday morning.

My Derby record makes grim reading with just two wins (Authorized 2007 and Workforce 2010) in forty years of trying. Generally the market has proved a good guide to the race with Sinndar (7/1) being the biggest priced winner in recent years. Using that benchmark, the victor will come from a list that comprises Carlton House, Recital, Pour Moi and Seville. I can't have the Queen's colt, Carlton House. His victory in the Dante was over three seconds slower than Midday's time in the Middleton Stakes half an hour earlier; he isn't guaranteed to stay; he doesn't represent value while his problems in the build-up have been well-documented. Fallon originally committed to ride Native Khan but has jumped ship; the jock has written a bullish piece in the Weekender about Recital's chance but at this point we don't know if he'll be on board. Seville finished second behind Carlton House in the muddling Dante and on breeding looks the more likely to stay the trip. Pour Moi has been well backed in recent weeks but French traned horses don't have a great record in the race.

Native Khan catches my eye, although obviously Fallon's view is respected. Ed Dunlop's grey isn't guaranteed to stay but he appeared to finish the 2000 Guineas strongly. Timeform rates the principals as follows: Carlton House 136p; Native Khan 134p; Seville 133p; Recital 133; Pour Moi 129p. At 12/1 with Coral I'll chance Native Khan staying the distance and have an each-way wager. For the dreamers amongst you, one that will stay and looks overpriced at 100/1 is Pisco Sour, although the luck of the draw (stall one) hasn't been kind to Hughie Morrison and his colt.

Should Carlton House win for Her Majesty, she will become the first royal to win the Derby since King Edward VII took the race with Minoru in 1909. Should Carlton House disappoint but Sohraab win the preceding Epsom Dash, I'd imagine Her Majesty would not be particularly amused; Kate Middleton's parents own a share of Sohraab...

Up at Newcastle's evening meeting, several runners in the two mile handicap (7.30) have form over the sticks. Orsippus is one that stands out, despite top weight, having finished third in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham in March. Off a mark of 137 he disappointed in the Swinton Hurdle but he starts this Grade 6 handicap off 62. He would be of interest if priced around 5/1 (as he is in tonight's tissue). In the past Westlin' Winds has tended to show better form with cut underfoot; this is his third run for Brian Ellison, having moved north from Charles Egerton's yard a couple of months back. Brian Ellison's 21% strike rate in the past fortnight means an improvement on those first two runs wouldn't be a complete surprise.  

Friday night ramblings

There's a decent enough card at Stratford tomorrow evening but I imagine the attendance is likely to suffer as Manchester United play Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley. The going at the Warwickshire track is described as good, good to firm in places, with 18mm of rain falling on Thursday. 11 go for The Gambling Prince Trophy at 7.20; a case can be made for most of them. Invisible Man pipped Swing Bill a neck at Worcester ten days ago with Commemoration Day another ten and a half lengths back in fifth; the winner that day may well struggle to confirm placings on the revised ratings. Two Welsh handlers in good form are Rebecca Curtis and Peter Bowen; the former trains The Jigsaw Man but I'm tempted to take an each-way chance with Bowen's Sunday City (16/1 in tonight's tissue). This one isn't easy to catch right and isn't certain to give his running but he retains some ability having won the Macer Gifford Handicap Chase at Huntingdon last autumn and appeared somewhat unlucky when slipping up at Ludlow on his penultimate run.

Another Welsh handler in form Tim Vaughan (25% strike rate in past fortnight) saddles The Ferbane Man in the Warwickshire Hunt Handicap Chase at 7.55. This one is a trier and a stayer but in a stable tour article last October the handler said 'He loves bottomless ground and grinds the opposition down.' With the going on the quick side I'll watch from the sideleines.

The booking of  McCoy for Amercian Art in the opener catches my eye. The champ has ridden Rebecca Curtis' well-regarded gelding Praxiteles before. I'll check the price before deciding whether to bet.

I'm sure Sir Alex Ferguson would welcome any diversion from the pressures of the build-up to a Champions League final but his two runners at Sandown last night failed to oblige. Pausanias finished fourth in a listed stakes while the somewhat inappropriately named Magic City could only finish third despite being sent off 10/11 favourite in another listed event. The irony is Magic City was beaten by Pyman's Theory, part-owned by Michael Owen. After pulling a stunt like that, I'd expect Owen to be leaving Old Trafford during the close season. Blue Bajan, a former Swinton Handicap Hurdle winner, took the two mile Henry II Stakes.

Following on from that prompt, horses with jumps form racing over a distance of more than one and a half miles on the Flat tomorrow include Cotillon, My Arch, La Estrella and Kayef in Haydock's opener; of these, Cotillon and Michael Scudamore's Kayef are of interest. The latter has a Sandown juvenile hurdle to his name and finished down the field in the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival. The colt doesn't look the easiest of rides but ran well to finish a close-up fourth at Ascot the last time, priced 33/1. Coral bet 16/1 for tomorrow's race.

In Catterick's 4.05 Micky Hammond's Heart Of  Dubai won over course and distance the last time but isn't guaranteed to reproduce that effort while mare Madamlily looks to have a tough enough task giving weight to all her rivals.

Newmarket's finale includes Veiled, Gifted Leader and Blue Spartan. Nicky Henderson has booked Kieren Fallon for Veiled. Gifted Leader has won a Stratford Class 3 hurdle; rated 130 over hurdles, the gelding goes off a mark of 77 here and would be of some interest for each-way punters if priced up at 16/1 (as in tonight's tissue). The grey Blue Spartan looks sure to appreciate this trip.

Festival review 2010

Firstly, the profit/loss details on the blog's highlighted selections at this year's Festival to a £1 level stake...

Tuesday
Punjabi WIN 15/2 - unplaced
Garde Champetre WIN 7/4f - fifth

Wednesday
Poker De Sivola E/W 14/1 WON - returned 8.75
Peddlers Cross WIN 7/1 WON - returned 8.00
Punchestowns WIN 2/1f - fifth
Kalahari King WIN 9/2 - third
Shot From The Hip WIN 3/1f - unplaced

Thursday
Poquelin WIN 11/4f - second
Karabak E/W 15/2 - fourth

Friday
Tell Massini WIN 100/30f - pulled up
Kauto Star WIN 8/11f - fell

Total wagered £11.00
Total returned £16.75
Profit/loss +£5.75
Win strike rate 18.18%
Profit as % of turnover 52.27%

Surprisingly, the figures read well enough. Wednesday was the lucky day - you may have noticed a more conservative approach thereafter... Some others mentioned in dispatches also performed with credit, most notably Cue Card who won the bumper at 40/1 (paid 60/1 on the Tote) and 14/1 Ryanair winner Albertas Run. Having gone to the trouble to dig out Colin Tizzard's quote about Cue Card the night before, you would have thought I'd have taken the trouble to place a bet but I didn't; at around 5.25 Wednesday evening I received a text from a colleague at the track who had bet the horse on the Nanny - that's racing!

This time last week media talk was of the four 'bankers'. Of the four - Dunguib, Master Minded, Big Buck's and Kauto Star - only Big Buck's obliged, making this a Festival for the layers. Commentators estimate the bookmaking industry is £60 million up over the four days.

Congratulations to connections of Imperial Commander who won the Gold Cup with authority. The decison to bill the showpiece as a two horse race (Kauto v. Denman) looks flawed now. I was amazed to hear Ms Fiona Bruce tell the nation on Friday's ten o'clock news that 'an outsider' had won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. If Imperial Commander was an outsider at 7/1, what was 250/1 shot Mr Pointment? A rank outsider possibly - I suppose we'll have to put it down to cutbacks in the BBC's racing coverage.

There were some notable performances over the four days but one that will live with me for a long time was Barizan's effort to make all in the Triumph. I've replayed that race a couple of times - had he not run down the last obstacle and landed in something of a heap, he would have gone extremely close; to me it looks as though he starts to make some ground on winner Soldatino as they climb the hill to the line - the form book reads 'rallied towards finish'.

Friday was Nigel Twiston-Davies' day. After taking the Gold Cup, elder son Sam Twiston-Davies rode the stable's Baby Run to victory in the Chrisitie's Foxhunter Chase. By this time the rain had started to get into the ground; fans of the slow-motion finish were in their element - for a moment I thought I was watching the final stages of a three mile handicap chase at Towcester. Not to be outdone by his elder brother, the younger Twiston-Davies was caught on camera running around in a highly-excited manner and then doing a quick 'live' interview. Some words of advice for this young man... I have no problems with your wagging off school, especially if you want go to the races, but don't do live TV interviews from the track as the chances are somebody will snitch on you. I fear a visit to the head teacher's office for a severe 'dressing down' will be on the cards tomorrow morning...

Finally, with the return of the Flat just around the corner, a quote from Kieren Fallon who was unfortunately punched by an owner while unsaddling Elna Bright at Lingfield yesterday: '...but I'm all right - he hits like a girl!'

Christmas considerations

From Cheltenham yesterday - the Twiston-Davies outfit seems to have found the key to Khyber Kim who is now 12/1 for the Champion Hurdle in March while Poquelin's clear victory in a competitive-looking Boylesports.com Gold Cup was impressive. The Ryanair Chase at the Festival is his target now for which he's quoted at 5/1. Three pound claimer Danny Cook won't have fond memories of yesterday's race - he took the wrong course on Our Vic and, according to Alistair Down, will now be referred to BHA HQ as this is his second such transgression in the past twelve months.

Over at Doncaster the underrated Graham Lee was seen at his very best, taking the two concluding chases on Watch My Back and Calgary Bay.

For those of us still living in the world of analogue televsion, the news that the Teletext News and Information Service is closing down on December 14th / 15th is little short of a disaster. A reduced racing service continues on Channel 4; I've hung on in there for as long as possible but I think D-day (Digital day) draws ever closer in the Tips' household...

A couple of football related items... Firstly, a mention for the manic Stuart Hall whose football reports are pure joy; he's set to celebrate his eightieth birthday this Christmas Day. Recently asked if he'd ever thought he'd still be working at this ripe old age, Mr. Hall's reply was along the lines of 'I've never considered this work'. Marvellous stuff. Secondly, a colleague in his late twenties recently went into a William Hill shop in a different part of town intent on placing a £2 football accumulator wager. He walked up to the bloke behind the counter, clutching two one pound coins in his sweaty palm, and was promptly asked for ID! When he questioned the cashier (along the lines of 'Eh?'), bloke replied 'Well, I haven't seen you in here before.' Bookmakers knocking back opportunities to make money - it must be the recession.

...and two TV items to conclude with. The BBC's 'Live Sports Personailty of the Year' starts at 7.00 this evening. I shall be watching because, no matter what you think, it takes a special sort of skill to condense a racing year into two minutes forty odd seconds. Clare Balding's Inside Sport interview (entitled 'Kieren Fallon - The Road To Redemption') is likely to be far more interesting and is scheduled for transmission at 11.25pm on Monday evening.

Footnotes

Fifteen Group 1 victories for Ballydoyle this season and we haven't seen the end of July yet!

In the paddock before Duke Of Marmalade's victory in the King George, the BBC commentators pounced on Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone whose wife (Mrs Ecclestone, apparently) owns Petara Bay. Mr Ecclestone looked like a fish out of water as first Claire Balding and then Willie Carson fired numerous questions at him. Willie's approach to shake hands with the great man was so disconcerting, Mr Ecclestone dropped from his sweaty palm the two pound coin he had been clutching throughout the preliminaries and was determined to invest on his wife's horse; in that very instance bookmakers shortened the odds on Petara Bay from 100/1 to 66/1...

Five days of top-class racing start at the Glorious Goodwood meeting on Tuesday. Highlights include the Sussex Stakes, the Goodwood Cup, the Nassau Stakes and the Stewards' Cup. On Wednesday the course is to honour Sir Peter O'Sullevan who celebrates his 90th birthday this year. On the same day, at 9.00pm, BBC1 transmits an hour-long Panorama special entitled 'Racing's Dirty Secrets'.

Yesterday I came across a copy of Andrew Longmore's Kieren Fallon: The Biography. It's the first racing book I've felt compelled to read in a long while. Amazon currently gives two possible dates for publication of the paperback edition- 17th July 2008 and 5th February 2009.

The hottest weekend of the year and in the post I receive literature from Aintree racecourse encouraging purchase of tickets for the 2009 Grand National. Talking of the winter game, I noticed Woolworths offering Waddingtons 'Escalado' racing game at the knockdown price of £8.00. I am going to buy one - it will help dispel some of the disappointment friends tend to experience when their much-anticipated trip to the races has to be cancelled due to inclement weather.

After all that, this...

York's midweek trials may have shaken up the Derby and Oaks markets but Geordieland's thrilling victory in the Yorkshire Cup on Friday was most emotional and will live long in the memory of many. Jockey Shane Kelly's return to race-riding following a twelve month ban for 'passing information' is a success story in its own right; this win will count as his biggest to date - full credit to trainer Jamie Osborne who stood by the rider through thick and thin. On the subject of corruption, I'm sure Kieren Fallon will have a view about the verdict on the police inquiry into race-fixing, reported on the same day.

Following Comply Or Die's win in this year's Grand National, regular readers may recall I wondered when was the last time a blinkered horse had won the Aintree marathon. Sad, I know, but I mailed Channel 4's Teletext service with my query - I still await a reply. However today, browsing in Waterstone's (Leamington branch), I stumbled across the answer in a book entitled A-Z of the Grand National. In the last seventy years or so only five National winners have worn blinkers: Battleship (1938); Foinavon (1967); L'Escargot (1975); Earth Summit (1998) and, of course, Comply Or Die (2008).

Just down the road from Waterstone's in Leamington Spa is the Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum. One of the texts available for perusal at that establishment is 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, (editor Stephen Farthing). Being the wrong side of fifty, I tend to browse through this work whenever the chance presents itself. One of the 1001 paintings is Mark Wallinger's 'Half Brothers (Exit To Nowhere - Machiavellian)'. Paul Bonaventura, Senior Research Fellow, Fine Art Studies, University of Oxford, comments on the painting: 'Like art, horseracing subscribes to its own set of invented rules...' As if we didn't know.

I couldn't help but be struck by the contrasting performances of two TV pundits today. Harry Findlay's enthusiasm on The Morning Line was infectious; Mark Lawrenson's comments during the FA Cup Final were tedious.

An unusual thing happened earlier in the week - I received some unsolicited mail that was of marginal interest. The literature for Scottish Racing's Tartan Turf Tours opens with the line 'What could be better than a few days racing, a round of golf, a tour of the local distillery and a walk in the hills?' The answer is quite plain - a few days racing and a tour of the local distillery.

Trials' verdict and other matters

While Jeremy Paxman concerns himself with trials of Marks & Spencer's underpants, the rest of us are more concerned with the results of yesterday's trials at Cheltenham. Inglis Drever's victory marks him out as potential banker material for the Festival. Franchoek (4/1) rightly heads the Triumph market and you'd assume there was more to come from Aigle D'or. Maljimar won impressively but both Patman Du Charmil and Nacarat went hell for leather up front and that looked to set the race up for something coming from behind. It's academic in any case as trainer Nick Williams has said he intends to send Maljimar to Newbury on March 1st.

On Friday Kieren Fallon was banned from riding worldwide for a period of eighteen months. His split with Coolmore was announced quickly afterwards. Fallon has lodged an appeal, publicly stating that this is not the end of his career and that he will return to race-riding.

It's somewhat ironic that a guy called Ben Gallop should have to explain the BBC's decision to withdraw several aspects of its Ceefax racing service. Over the past few months I've manged to steadily wean myself off - I think I can live without it now.

I'm acutely aware of the dearth of winners provided by this blog over the past few weeks. In a desperate attempt to address this troublesome situation I shall be watching a programme entitled 'Derren Brown: The System' which Channel Four is broadcasting this coming Friday, February 1st, at 9.00 pm. Quoting from the TV schedule in front of me: '"Is it possible," wonders Brown, "to predict every time which horse will win?"' If it is, I'll pass on the details here.

Finally, I'd hardly describe myself as the most romatic of souls but, with Valentine's Day just around the corner, the Weekender's recent offer of 15 words for a tenner looked tempting. I mulled it over but reasoned that Mrs Tips never reads the Weekender anyway, so I stuffed the money on Blazing Bailey at Cheltenham yesterday. Some you win and...

Racing notes

In the days following the embarrassing collapse of the race-fixing trial, the City of London Police and the British Horseracing Authority have been scrambling, in a somewhat unseemly fashion, to distance themselves from any ensuing blame. In addition, screeds have been written following the breaking of the news that Fallon failed a drug test in the summer; an interesting perspective was given by Stephen Pollard in The Times' Thunderer column on Monday.

Cheltenham's card this Saturday is starting to look rather attractive, with a fair number of equine stars intending to take up their engagements.

Looking a little further ahead, The Lexus Chase, which is set to be run at Leopardstown on Friday December 28th, could see Denman and The Listener taking each other on. In this week's edition of The Weekender, Nick Mordin puts forward a persuasive case for The Listener who appears well ahead of his rival on Nick's timings.

Evan Williams' yard is under a cloud at the moment but his Enlightenment is worth a second look in the Turftv Novices' Chase at Ludlow tomorrow.

Fallon's ups and downs

Barely twenty four hours after being cleared of any wrongdoing in the race-fixing trial, Kieren Fallon has tested positive for a banned substance. The substance is believed to be cocaine and, ironically, it was detected after his ride on Myboycharlie at Deauville last August. Results from a second sample are awaited before the French racing authorities decide what action to take. Whatever your views on Fallon, you can't ever say he led a dull life.

Fallon race-fixing trial collapses

The dramatic collapse of the race-fixing trial at the Old Bailey will look like a Christmas present come early for Kieren Fallon and his co-defendants. The judge has said that the prosecution was never near getting together a credible case, with the evidence of Australian expert Ray Murrihy totally discredited. This outcome ranks as a major embarrassment for the British horseracing establishment who, on July 7th 2006, banned Fallon and two other jockeys from riding in Britain until criminal proceedings were concluded. As you might expect, while Fallon is delighted to be exonerated, he is angry at the way in which he has been treated by the British Horseracing Authority (in contrast to the stance taken by the Irish Turf Club); I wonder if he'll consider making a claim for lost earnings...

Smiles and scowls

The first edition of a new racing paper, Racing Ahead Weekend, appeared in newsagents on Saturday and, of course, I had to buy a copy to examine the contents and layout. What sets this offering apart from anything seen previously is the fact that the cards and colours are listed in race time order for all meetings held over the weekend. Form guide notes for each race are listed in the order of the printed betting tissue rather than in racecard order. Personally I found it all a little confusing, with the notes for the Sunday meetings containing a lot less detail. One misleading example - Classic Gold held an entry in the 3.35 at Kempton on Sunday but had run at Cheltenham on Friday; the paper contained no reference to the Friday run. On the plus side, the price of £1 is affordable and providing a form pull-out which can be taken separately to the races / betting shop is a nice idea.

I wonder what Kieren Fallon thinks about the current situation surrounding Ant & Dec and their television phone-ins...

Apparently, in between the horse racing at Hereford today, there was a 'Carry Your Wife' race. Mrs Tips and I had considered submitting an entry but yesterday Mrs T. announced she would have to put up two pounds overweight (only the two pounds?) I thought long and hard about it, but in the end we decided to scratch.

Interpreting the texts

Texting is the bane of my life - I hate it. I only do it if I have to, and then I'm slower than everybody else by a factor of ten. It's not just creating the blessed messages I have trouble with, it's making sense of the replies.

It would appear our learned friends in the legal profession have no such problems. On the first day of Fallon's trial they inform us that Fallon's text '6.55 no4 n', sent back in August 2004, indicated that in the 6.55 at Goodwood horse number four was a non-trier.

Well, here's a thing - I've sent a similar text twice in the last eighteen months. On the first occasion I ordered chicken tikka masala with naan from my local takeway at precisely 6.55pm. On the second occasion I placed my mobile in my rear trouser pocket without locking the keypad; I then went and sat on the wretched device.

Arc drama

What drama in the Arc, and what an exceptional performance from Dylan Thomas and jockey Kieren Fallon! Connections survived a thirty minute stewards' inquiry before the placings were officially confirmed as remaining unaltered. Dylan Thomas interfered with three other runners as he drifted towards the rail in the final couple of furlongs but he was the best horse in the race and has won on ground that didn't really suit.

Consider the highs and the lows of jockey Kieren Fallon - Sunday he wins his second Arc at Longchamp in Paris, Monday his trial into alleged race fixing starts at the Old Bailey in London.

A few Flat notes

At the time of writing Peter Chapple-Hyam's Derby winner Authorized is a best priced 13/8 to win the Arc at Longchamp a week on Sunday. Authorized's preparation appears to be going to plan although recently his trainer admitted that several in his string were under the weather and there are no isolation facilities at the yard. If you fancy Authorized, it will pay to monitor the stable's runners over the coming week.

Henry Cecil has given a big hint that his Oaks filly Passage Of Time will be supplemented for the same race; she has been introduced into the betting at 33/1.

Kieren Fallon and five co-defendants are set to appear at The Old Bailey a week tomorrow to face charges relating to conspiracy to defraud punters. This high profile trial is expected to last three to four months and will generate huge media interest.

I guess Alec Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, is a guy you either love or love to hate. Whatever, his banter with the regulars of Channel Four's Morning Line on Saturday was most entertaining. My father-in-law, who hails from South West Scotland, often describes him as 'silver-tongued' and you can see why. A game my (sad) drinking companions occasionally play is to name a celebrity you would choose to have evening dinner with, giving reasons for your choice and some questions you'd put to the lucky celebrity concerned. After watching his performance on Saturday, Alec Salmond is right up there on my list.

Fallon banned for six months

Kieren Fallon's annus horribilis is to culminate in the former champion jockey being banned for six months after testing positive for a prohibited substance.

Further details from the BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/6157167.stm

I would imagine this news will be followed in due course by the announcement of his retirement from race riding.

Fallon's High Court appeal fails

Fallon's appeal to the High Court to lift his current UK riding ban has failed.

According to representations made to the Court yesterday, this decision will have 'disastrous' financial consequences for 41 year old Fallon. Many will see it as signalling the end of his race riding career.

The trial is set take place sometime in 2007. Fallon's retainer with Coolmore expires in November and is unlikely to be renewed.

It certainly is a sorry state of affairs for a jockey Aidan O'Brien has recently described as 'the best in the world'.

Fallon appeal fails

Kieren Fallon's appeal against his UK riding ban has been dimissed
http://www.thehra.org/doc.php?id=42138

Hmmm, nothing unexpected there then.

A whiff of corruption in the air?

The Horseracing Regulatory Authority's decision to suspend Kieren Fallon from riding in the United Kingdom pending the outcome of the forthcoming trial has generated differing opinions.

Fallon has stated publicly that if the decision is not overturned his career will be in ruins.

In other professional walks of life the accused are usuallly sent home on gardeneing leave - that is to say on full pay pending the outcome.

Fallon has the luxury of a lucrative retainer with the Aidan O'Brien stable based in Ireland. Financially the other two jockeys suspended, Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, will be worse affected as they ride freelance; in effect their ability to earn a living has been taken away from them.

On Sunday John Francome set the cat amongst the pigeons by estimating that up to six races a year may be fixed http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/5163090.stm

One thing we can expect over the next few months is a period of moralising and soul searching, and it looks like it's already started...

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/horseracing/story/0,,1816209,00.html
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/horseracing/comment/0,,1817483,00.html

The wretched irony is we go racing to try and escape this sort of stuff.

Fallon - Saint and Sinner

Whatever you may think about Kieren Fallon, two things can go undisputed.

Firstly, he's an exceptional jockey. In my opinion his record around Epsom is bettered only by Lester Piggott.

Secondly, he's already had his fair share of scrapes. Years ago in a Coral shop in Plymouth I remember watching him ride a close finish and then drag the other jockey from his mount just after the horses had past the winning post. I'd never seen anything like it at the time and still haven't to this day.

Whatever the outcome of the charges brought against him, racing will need to remember that he should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.