STEWARDS FORCED TO DISCONTINUE LONG-RUNNING INVESTIGATION

RACING New South Wales stewards have been forced to drop a long-running investigation involving jockeys Allan Robinson and Dale Spriggs claiming an on-line betting account operator declined to continue to co-operate.

In a report released today (Friday), stewards said there was insufficient evidence to find that Robinson and Spriggs had breached the Rules of Racing by providing information about the prospects of their mounts to the betting account operator.

Stewards claimed that the punter had shown a ‘distinct bias’ in his betting account activities towards horses ridden by Robinson and Spriggs.

They claimed the on-line account holder was offering odds ‘well in excess of what was generally available in the betting market for the particular race.’ Their investigation examined betting trends on country and provincial meetings between June 20 and August 15 last year.

Stewards said the investigation was commenced upon referral by the Hunter and North West Racing Association stewards at the conclusion of an inquiry into the handling of Shyspin in a race at Gunnedah in August last year.

According to the stewards’ report: “What was established during the investigation was that the person operating a betting account (not being the account holder or a licensed person) was involved in a series of wagering activities between 20 June 2008 and 15 August 2008 which indicated a distinct bias towards horses ridden by licensed jockeys Allan Robinson and Dale Spriggs, with such offers to wager being at odds well in excess of what was generally available in the betting market for the particular race.

“It was further established from the mobile telephone records of Allan Robinson and Dale Spriggs that during the relevant period there was a sequence of phone contacts between the two licensed jockeys and the account operator.

“Whilst the account operator gave evidence to the stewards by telephone from the office of his legal representative on 4 February 2009, he later declined to co-operate further with the inquiry by providing information requested by the stewards.

“Whilst the stewards were satisfied that a relationship existed between licensed jockeys Allan Robinson and Dale Spriggs and the operator of the betting account, upon consideration of the material before them the stewards found that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that any breach of AR175(i) had occurred, namely that information concerning the prospects of their horses in a race had been given by licensed jockeys Allan Robinson and Dale Spriggs for any monetary or other consideration.”

On Thursday Robinson lost an appeal against a three month suspension on a running and handling charge. During a seven-hour sittings, a Racing NSW Appeal Panel found that all six charges against Robinson had been substantiated.

The suspension involved his handling of fourth placed Kwila’s Law at Quirindi on May 1. Robinson will be out of the saddle until November 13.

He was found guilty of a charge under AR135(b) which states: “The rider of every horse shall take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible place in the field.”