MARTIN PIPE was effectively found guilty of cheating the racing public yesterday. The first high-profile Jockey Club inquiry open to the media took a sensational turn when the multiple champion jumps trainer and his jockey, Jamie Moore, were found in breach of rules governing horses not run on their merits — in essence, non-triers.
The fact that the horse concerned is Celtic Son, whose four subsequent wins have made him a leading fancy for a novice hurdle at Cheltenham, enhanced the piquancy of the occasion. Along with a 21-day ban for Moore (February 22 - March 14) and a £3,000 fine for Pipe, Celtic Son is suspended from the racecourse for 40 days, ruling him out of the Festival. An appeal was being considered last night.
It was appropriately dramatic theatre for the regulatory body’s new base in Shaftesbury Avenue but Pipe was stunned. “I’m very shocked,” he said. “It’s the first time this has happened to me and they have got it totally wrong. Having listened to the evidence, I thought there was no problem.”
Pipe, who has earned a CBE for his achievements, was not alone in his expectations. The body of the inquiry occupied more than 2½ hours and a points victory for the defence appeared to have been established. Rory Mac Niece, the solicitor acting for Pipe and Moore, said: “I was confident at the end of the evidence.”
Instead, after a brief deliberation, the panel found both men in breach. Pipe, who used a stopwatch to time proceedings, said he had never known such a quick decision. Moore, who had defended himself robustly, looked near to tears as the enormity of the findings, and their possible effect on his reputation, hit home.
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Though champion conditional jockey, Moore is still only 20, a callowness underscored by the fact that his mother was waiting for him outside. He spoke for himself, though, with passion. “It was a very unfair hearing and I’m disgusted. There was nothing more I could have done. It’s a joke.”
The race under review was a novice hurdle at Exeter in October. The local stewards saw nothing amiss but new regulations mean that the Jockey Club can act retrospectively.
They did so after Celtic Son had begun his winning sequence — over a longer trip, on softer ground and wearing a tongue-tie. Such factors were not allowed in evidence, though presumably they had not been ignored in bringing the case.
We watched the Exeter race from six different camera angles. We saw Moore drop Celtic Son towards the rear of the 14 runners and make gradual progress — under a ride that Pipe and Moore maintained was vigorous — to finish fifth. We heard Pipe say his jockey had followed his simple instructions, bar not going on to win.
What was at question, according to Lyn Williams, who put the Jockey Club case in a lilting Welsh accent, was whether Moore was trying as hard as he appeared to be. Williams put it to the jockey that “rather than encouraging the horse, he was restraining it, taking hold of its head to prevent it going forward.” Moore sniffed dismissively at this and Pipe presented a disbelieving stare.
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Williams, whose questions on riding techniques prompted Moore to ask him if he had ever ridden a horse, further accused the jockey of only pretending to hit Celtic Son when he used his whip ten times in the final mile of the race. “I’m disgusted by that allegation,” Moore said. “I don’t know how you could say I didn’t hit him.” And so, bizarrely, a lengthy period was taken up in debating whether a jockey had hit his horse as often as he should.
In his summing-up, Williams was unequivocal. “The allegation being made against Mr Pipe and Mr Moore is one of cheating,” he said. The panel decided they were guilty but an angry Mac Niece promised we have not heard the last of this. The timing of a hearing for the appeal, which must be lodged by Monday evening, would probably mean Celtic Son could still run at Cheltenham. But reputations, rather than a single race, are at issue here.