But there is not necessarily anything untoward about the odds changing like that. I have plenty of horses that drift [in the odds on Betfair] and they end up winning. It is important to remember that just because a horse drifts it doesn’t mean it is going to lose or there is anything suspicious.Regarding Kieren Fallon, I can’t believe there is any possibility that he made sure that the horse didn’t win. It was a badly judged race because he got beaten after being ahead It’s complete rubbish to suggest that he did it on purpose. It would be ludicrous to get beaten in that way.With Sean Fox [who appeared to leap from his mount on Monday] his toe slipped out of the iron which can easily happen.A similar thing happened to Tony McCoy a few months ago in a televised race at Cheltenham but nobody said that was a fix.’The floodgates have opened’George Duffield Veteran flat jockeyThe arrival of Betfair has opened the floodgates to corruption. It’s a licence for corruption and anyone who thinks anything different is na? in the extreme.

As soon as we heard about Betfair being set up, we both thought, “How stupid”, and my wife Ann wrote to the authorities at Portman Square to tell them so.For a long time, they dismissed her concerns but now she feels vindicated because everyone seems to be saying these betting exchanges are to blame. It would be virtually impossible to get away with anything now. Television pictures are more readily available to the public and anything out of the ordinary gets played over and over again.I think the media has played its role too. It has whiffed some scandal and then exaggerated it out of all proportion.As far as betting patterns are concerned it seems that as soon as [the odds on] horses drift [or lengthen] at a betting exchange they are under scrutiny. It is hardly surprising when some succeed in procuring a trainer or jockey to arrange that they cannot lose.’The sport is cleaner than ever before because of the level of scrutiny’Philip Hobbs TrainerIf you asked me whether racing was more corrupt now, I would say that the opposite was the case.

The sport is cleaner than ever before because of the level of scrutiny these days.Racing is cleaner than it was 10 or 15 years ago because there are cameras everywhere. In the stewards’ room there are often four different camera angles of the race in the final furlongs for them to watch the race.In the old days the stewards had to rely on what they saw and the word of the officials at the track. And if given the opportunity to take part in a coup, given the nod to back a racing certainty, how many would question the morality of taking advantage of information that is not in the public domain. The racing gamble, going for a “touch”, not only pre-dates the arrival of betting exchanges, it is as old as the sport itself. Tar racing as corrupt and you have to daub all these with the same brush. Then there is the growing army of punters, encouraged to join in the great gambling fest by the state-sponsored Lottery and the relaxation of gaming laws.

Who are they? They are Everyman, but particularly the disadvantaged, seeking to better their lives with the quick fix of a big win. As soon as a record is broken, everyone wonders whether drugs played a part.If it is found that there is widespread corruption in racing, the public will lose faith and the consequences could be disastrous.’How many would question a big win?’ John Cobb Racing editor of ‘The Independent’To decide whether racing – part sport, part industry – is corrupt you have first to decide what exactly racing is. It includes the multi-millionaire owners that dominate the summer Flat season, sliding down the pyramid past the trainers and horse breeders dotted around the rural landscape, the journeymen jockeys on the daily grind round the circuit of racecourses from Newton Abbot to Perth, to the grafters at base level, the poorly paid, largely un-unionised stable workers and betting shop staff. The responsibility for cracking down on corruption lies with the Jockey Club’s recently appointed security officer, the former police officer Paul Scotney.With the size of the racing world and the amounts of money involved, you can’t believe that every horse in every race is going to have performed within all the rules.But in the wake of dawn raids on stables, the doping and drugs scandals, and now the claims against Fallon and Sean Fox, there is suspicion among punters, and that is not good news for racing.I liken it to the worlds of athletics and swimming. I believe the Jockey Club will need to adopt a zero-tolerance policy and anyone found guilty of any form of corruption should face a life ban The sport is now straighter than ever.