? Delyth Thomas awaits verdict on Am I Blue gamble
? Timeteam's run at Lingfield also under consideration
Racing may see a series of disciplinary hearings for offences against the anti-corruption rules this summer. Two more betting-related cases are due to be considered for charges within the next three months, in addition to the expected action against as many as five jockeys following allegations of race fixing.
Investigations into a high-profile gamble on Am I Blue, who won a handicap hurdle at Hereford on 1 September 2010 after being backed from 25-1 to 5-1, are now drawing to a conclusion. The mare was the first winner under Rules for more than five years to be saddled by the Bridgend trainer Delyth Thomas, who is also a successful trainer of pure-bred Arabians, and had been beaten by 88 lengths and 75 lengths on her two starts the previous month.
Am I Blue was declared for the race with Dean Coleman, a conditional jockey with a 5lb claim, booked to ride but he was replaced by the leading rider Richard Johnson shortly before the race. Coleman was said to have been taken ill, although one report suggested that he had been seen in the paddock during racing.
Thomas, who will saddle Am I Blue for a race at Hereford on Wednesday afternoon with Johnson declared to ride, said today that she had not had any indication from the British Horseracing Authority on when the investigation may conclude.
"I've rung them three or four times and in all fairness they've been lovely," Thomas said. "They realise I want to get it done and dusted and they said we've found nothing at all with you but we're still checking into the betting patterns.
"The only thing I can think of is that it was heard that her back had been done. A new girl [equine back specialist] had done it a couple of weeks beforehand and she was a new mare afterwards."
If the BHA decides that charges are warranted, they could be laid within two months, while another, much more extended investigation into the running and riding of Timeteam in a race at Lingfield in January 2010 could also result in charges around the same time.
Timeteam was very weak in the market, both at the track and on Betfair, before the claiming event, drifting from 11-2 to 8-1 despite having run with credit in much better company on his previous start.
He was making his debut for the trainer George Prodromou and ridden by 7lb-claimer Charlotte Kerton, who made little headway on Timeteam after losing a significant amount of ground with a slow start.
"I've not heard anything [from the BHA] recently," Prodromou said today. "I don't know why they investigated to start with. How could anyone know that the horse was going to stand still in the starting stalls?
"It's been a long time but they've got a difficult job to do and I understand that they have to do it.
"I've been very helpful and straight with them. All of us want a clean game and I know that, if anyone from my yard laid a horse from my yard [on a betting exchange], they wouldn't be working for me any more."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/19/bha-charges-am-i-blue
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