Is Horse Racing Tainted Forever?
While the collapse of the recent “fixing” court case involving champion jockey Keiren Fallon was much welcomed by the sport and punters alike, there are still many unanswered questions. There are also many in the industry who are concerned that the sport of horse racing may well be tainted forever, even though there have been very few convictions for “fixing”.
Horse racing is an industry which has many elements and many faces, which all come together to present what is perhaps one of the most fascinating sports in the world. One of the few sports where man, woman and horse come together to beat the odds, there are so many things which can go right, but even more that can go wrong!
We have all seen odds on favourites beaten by a mile, but let us face the facts, these are some of the purest bred animals in the world and unless they are on top form they will struggle. These are not machines, these are not robots, these are prime athletes of the racing world. The Fallon case seemed to centre on one particular race where he was about 20 lengths ahead and was ultimately beaten on the line into second place. The prosecution tried to suggest that he had fixed the race and needed to lose to help his “racing ring”, but try as hard as they could they were unable to prove this.
While the case ultimately collapsed on the evidence of an Australian expert who was not aware of UK racing rules, there are many who suggested that the case should never have gone to court. Has this one case done damage to the sport of kings? No, but the cumulative effect of whispers, court cases and rumours is having an impact upon the reputation of the industry.
While the industry is looking to “clean” itself up for the future, there are still many who are highly suspicious of the horse racing world.