THE Hillside Girl case was expected to show the Jockey Club baring its teeth against corruption. It did not work out that way. Alan Berry left Portman Square yesterday free to continue training, after four days of evidence and legal argument saw the weighty conspiracy charges against him and three others dismissed.
There was a scarcely concealed air of dismay amid Jockey Club officials as this complex case, in which the trainer, a blacksmith and two jockeys were accused of conspiring to profit through running a lame horse, collapsed through lack of evidence.
Berry, 41, arrived for the conclusion of the hearing yesterday knowing that his career could be ended by a guilty verdict. After several hours of legal submissions, and an afternoon of deliberation by the three-man disciplinary panel, his licence was reprieved. He was, however, found guilty on more minor charges regarding horse welfare and misleading the stewards, and fined £2,150.
Maxse lamented the fact that the infamous race at Carlisle last June, in which Hillside Girl was pulled up before halfway after drifting alarmingly on the betting exchanges, took place one day before the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding with Betfair. Before this agreement, audit trails showing individuals who profited from laying a horse were concealed by Data Protection. Hence, any assistance rendered to the Jockey Club by Betfair in this case was ruled inadmissi ble.
Additionally, though the blacksmith, Steve O’Sullivan, and Dale Jewett, an amateur jockey, did not deny laying Hillside Girl at Carlisle, neither was in breach of rules. Amateur jockeys are permitted to bet on races in which they are not taking part and it was only last September that stable employees became liable to warning off if they laid a horse from their own yard.
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All this contributed towards an embarrassing failure for the Jockey Club. Maxse said: “It demonstrates the difficulties a regulatory body has in this area. The strength of legal defence is one thing we must look at as a result of this case and there is a proposal that in future we have a lawyer or barrister on the panel.”
These are troubled times for the Jockey Club, who yesterday listed 12 further cases still in the pending tray. The inquiry into Sean Fox, who allegedly jumped off a steeplechaser at Fontwell in March, concludes tomorrow but matters affecting Kieren Fallon, John Egan, Gary Carter and Graham Bradley are among those awaiting resolution.
Hillside Girl never ran again after the Carlisle race but Berry’s career — languishing in the doldrums at the time — has been reinvigorated of late.
By comparison, Frankie Dettori and Kieren Fallon are in the stratosphere. Dettori rode a double at Yarmouth yesterday, answered by one winner for Fallon at Salisbury. It leaves them level in the race for the jockeys’ championship.