Betting inquiry was 'hamstrung'

THE TURF Club believe its investigation into betting patterns involving a race won by the Champion Hurdle favourite Solwhit was “hamstrung” by its inability to access phone records.

Although the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association yesterday again expressed its complete objection to the Turf Club being allowed to examine its members’ phone records and financial accounts, the regulatory body expects to reveal detailed proposals into the matter in the next two months.

The question of access to racing professional’s phone accounts is coming to a head again on the back of an employee of Solwhit’s trainer Charles Byrnes being disqualified for four months after laying horses trained by Byrnes on Betfair between May and December of 2008.

In the first case of its kind in Ireland, John O’Gorman was disqualified after laying horses nine times on the internet exchange.

After Solwhit won a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse in November 2008, the Turf Club launched an investigation which led to O’Gorman’s disqualification on Thursday.

“We would like to have accessed phone records in this matter and were definitely hamstrung by our inability to do that under current powers. It may have assisted us had we access to such records,” said the Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan yesterday.

“Other concerns were brought to our attention on this issue but we could only go so far under the powers open to us.”

Egan added: “We expect to publish detailed proposals on this in the next two months. We are not proposing what the BHA has done in Britain and ban phones in the weighroom. But we do hope to organise some mechanism to allow us access, under stringent rules and conditions, to information if required.”

However, the Trainers Association stressed yesterday its objection to any such move and spokesman Jim Kavanagh said: “We obviously want to co-operate with the maintaining of integrity but we unanimously feel that the only people entitled to look at our phone records, our training accounts and our bank accounts are the Gardaí.”

New Phase looks the day’s best bet at Fairyhouse but action is dependant on a 7.30 inspection due to the threat of frost.