Pair banned for racing corruption

Jockey McKeown had denied any wrongdoing

Veteran Flat jockey Dean McKeown has been handed a four-year ban and trainer Paul Blockley banned for 30 months after a corruption probe.

They were found guilty of breaching a British Horseracing Authority rule by conspiring with others to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice.

Blockley was also found guilty of failing to give proper instructions to McKeown to ride a horse on its merits.

And a panel ruled the jockey did not ensure four mounts ran on their merits.

They will not be allowed to train, ride or own racehorses, work in stables, go racing or have dealings with other licensed people.

The pair, who denied the charges, were accused of being involved with the laying of horses to lose in races between March 2004 and December 2005.

The bets in question risked a total of £182,541, but in fact, because every bet was a winner, the overall profit was £61,909.

It is the first major BHA anti-corruption case since the Old Bailey race-fixing trial involving former champion jockey Kieren Fallon collapsed in December 2007.

McKeown, 48, has won several big races in a career spanning 30 years, including the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket three times.

He claimed the Ebor Handicap in 2002 and the Chester Cup a year later on Hugs Dancer.

And McKeown triumphed in major races around the world on globe-trotting Collier Hill for trainer Alan Swinbank.

He was found not to have ridden the following horses on their merits - Only If I Laugh, Smith N Allan Oils, Hits Only Cash and Hits Only Money.

Career highlights for Blockley, who is based in Lambourn, Berkshire, include victories for Red Power in the Brocklesby Stakes and Hidden Dragon in the Great St Wilfred Stakes.

Several other men were also found to have breached BHA rules and given lengthy bans.

A disciplinary panel ruled owner Clive Whiting misled BHA investigators and committed a corrupt or fraudulent practice under rule 201 (v). He was disqualified for eight years.

Fellow owner Derek Lovatt (fined £20,000) and Martyn Wakefield (18 months), along with Whiting's brother Vincent (four years), former owner Marcus Reeder (18 months), David Wright (six years) and Nicholas Rook (four years), were found to have breached the same rule.

The panel took the view that McKeown's relationship with Whiting was "much closer than the normal professional relationship of a jockey with an owner for whom he rode regularly."

"They were friends and had business dealings. McKeown became in effect Clive Whiting's racing advisor," their ruling added.