The investigation, which was the largest of its kind undertaken by the
London police, started in 2004 when the Jockey Club (now the Horseracing
Regulatory Authority) was approached by Betfair with a number of
irregular betting patterns. After an internal investigation by the
security department of the Jockey Club, the regulatory authority of
racing in the United Kingdom decided to hand over the case to the police
as they felt it was criminal in nature and had the potential to
undermine the integrity of horse racing.
The protracted investigations have yielded nearly 40,000 pages of
evidence and the trial is expected to begin sometime early in 2007. All
eleven accused will appear at City of London Magistrates' Court on July
17 to hear the charges against them.
The Horseracing Regulatory Authority has in the meantime cancelled the
licences of the three riders. In a statement the HRA said:
"The City of London Police have today charged a number of individuals
with criminal offences in relation to horseracing. Some of those
individuals charged are licensed by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority
(the HRA). In accordance with conditions, which were attached to their
licences when they were issued, those licences expire immediately or are
limited as follows:
"Fergal Lynch, jockey - licence expired pending hearing. Darren
Williams, jockey - licence expired pending hearing.
"Darren Williams, jockey - licence expired pending hearing.
"Kieren Fallon, jockey - licensed in Ireland - prohibited from riding in
Great Britain (under Rule 1Axxv) pending hearing."
While Fallon will be unable to ride in the UK, he will continue to ride
in Ireland.
Fallon is retained by the world famous racing and breeding operation,
Coolmore and he has received a vote of confidence from his employers. A
statement from Coolmore read:
"John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor, for whom Kieren Fallon
rides, have been assured that Mr Fallon is innocent of these charges and
look forward to his opportunity to defend himself, and to the early
resolution of this issue."
Both Kieren Fallon and Fergal Lynch were regular winter visitors to
India in the nineties where they rode with success.
