Fallon's Trial

[Declan]

Trial told of 'Fallon's role in plot to lose race'
08/10/2007 - 14:01:35

A step-by-step trail of how Kieren Fallon was allegedly involved in a plot to lose a race at Goodwood was given to jurors at his Old Bailey trial today.A step-by-step trail of how Kieren Fallon was allegedly involved in a plot to lose a race at Goodwood was given to jurors at his Old Bailey trial today.

By coming third on the 2/1 favourite Goodwood Spirit during an evening race in August 2004, the jockey made nearly £30,000 (€43,000) for Miles Rodgers, the court heard.

Using a telephone chart, details of a text message, a Racing Post race card and a chart of Betfair account details, Jonathan Caplan QC explained to the trial how the conspiracy was allegedly carried out.

It is said to have been one of 27 horses ridden by Fallon and two other jockeys in a £2m (€2.8m) scheme to defraud punters over nearly two years.

In the case of Goodwood Spirit, it is claimed that businessman Rodgers, alleged to be at the centre of the conspiracy, "laid the horse" – that is, bet on it to lose – using seven different accounts on the online betting exchange Betfair.

He laid a total of £117,000 (€169,366) on Goodwood Spirit, winning about £30,000 when it lost, Mr Caplan said.

"The prosecution alleges that Mr Rodgers's confidence to lay the horse for that amount of money came from what happened earlier that day, that is to say the mobile telephone contact he had with others in the conspiracy – in this case Mr Fallon through the intermediary Philip Sherkle."

Jurors were shown a mobile phone chart which allegedly detailed a 17-second call at 11.43am on August 14, 2004 from Sherkle's mobile to Fallon.
Another call from Sherkle to Fallon, lasting one minute and 28 seconds, followed at 12.04pm, the jury was told.

There was then a text message from the jockey's mobile to Sherkle at 12.08, followed by a text from Sherkle to Rodgers a minute later.
The latter message, recovered from Rodgers's mobile, read "6.55 no 4 n".

Mr Caplan said that "6.55" referred to the race at Goodwood at that time while "no 4" referred to the number on the race card in the Racing Post that morning – not the number on the stall – and "n" meant "non-tryer". It is alleged this was the same message which Fallon had sent to Sherkle a minute before, forwarded to Rodgers.
"Mr Fallon was confiding in that text message that he would do what he could if necessary to stop that horse."

At 6.36pm, Rodgers began to lay thousands of pounds on Goodwood Spirit to lose, using accounts controlled by him in seven different names, jurors were told, with the last one being laid at 6.51pm, four minutes before the race was due to start.
A total amount of £116,738 (€169,000) was laid, with the accounts making a profit of £29,822 (€43,175) from the horse losing, the court heard.

What do people think of this? Faascinating stuff but are the prosecution reaching a bit??

[Balboa]

Rightly or wrongly Fallon always gave me the impression as a bit of a chancer, but did he need the money? In any case it was a disgrace that he wasnt allowed to race in England until his guilt/innocence was proven in a court of law.

[Smokin Joe]

What do people think of this? Faascinating stuff but are the prosecution reaching a bit??

Declan, why do you think thay are reaching?  It seems reasonable to me.

[Mentalman]

What do people think of this? Faascinating stuff but are the prosecution reaching a bit??

Declan, why do you think thay are reaching?  It seems reasonable to me.

If the main stay of their evidence against Fallon is a text that they can't rpove was sent by him, well there's your reasonable doubt I guess

[bcarrier]

"

Fallon's position appears to be that he would discuss the prospects of his own rides with Fergal and Shaun Lynch but was completely unaware if they passed this information on to Rodgers," said Mr Caplan.

"Fallon says that he also gave some tips to Sherkle, whom he thought was having 'his own couple of quid' on them. He was completely unaware if Sherkle passed these tips of Rodgers."

He added: "Whilst they may well have exchanged tips and information at various times, there was something far more sinister and unlawful going on."

Mr Caplan said it was "inconceivable" that Fallon gave information to the Lynch brothers and to Sherkle and they all passed it on to Rodgers without him knowing.

Mr Caplan said a total of £2.12 million was laid by Rodgers' Betfair accounts on the 27 races between December 2002 and the end of August 2004.

Fallon rode 17 of the races.

"He won for the conspirators 12 times by losing, but he lost for them five times by winning," Mr Caplan said. Fallon's wins between mid-May and mid-August 2004 cost the conspirators almost half a million pounds, it was alleged.

"According to what Rodgers said to others in the probe, it led to a temporary fall-out between Fallon and Rodgers.

"At the time of the arrests on 1st September 2004, Fallon had made a net loss for the conspiracy of about £338,000."

Mr Caplan added: "But it is important to remember that Rodgers at the time was working with Fergal Lynch and Fallon to get the conspiracy back into profit by concentrating on their rides in 'Handicap' races."

Mr Caplan said of Fallon: "He has been champion jockey in this country on six occasions.

"There can be no question that he is regarded as being one of the leading jockeys in the world."

Fergal Lynchhad ridden in six of the races and only lost the conspirators money once by winning on Familiar Affair.

"He won on that occasion because he was 'playing' three races for the conspirators in one day and, as it turned out, it would have been too dangerous to stop all three horses.

"He earned a net profit for the conspiracy of just over £5,000 by the time of his arrest," said Mr Caplan.

Darren Williams rode four of the races and won for the plotters each time by losing, earning them £55,000, thecourt heard.

Mr Caplan said there were others involved in the plot who were not before the court.

Mr Caplan told the jury that the aim of the conspiracy was for Rodgers to wager "very large amounts of money" on a horse to lose, knowing that the jockey "was prepared to cheat by using tactics on course to stop the horse if it was likely to win".

But he added: "The plan was not foolproof because you could not always stop the horse if, in the particular circumstances, it would look too obvious.

The real crime here is how taxpayers money has been wasted. Fallon admits talking about prospects to another jockey  ( hardly a crime) who may have passed on information to his brother ( and this guy sherkle) who may have passed information onto  Miles Rodgers who lost money as a result of the said information.

Is Bud also guilty?

[Declan]

Declan, why do you think thay are reaching?

It's early days in what will be a 4 month trial but the fact that he actually won 5 of the 17 races he was supposed to lose and also the CPS are saying therefore he was somehow in hock to the syndicate and then had to continue "losing" seems far fetched to me but it'll all come during the trial I suppose.

[bcarrier]

Agreed Declan. Fallons career % is 17% from over 12000 races. His win rate in the races he was supposed to be  throwing is 29%.

[blasmere]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7035744.stm

Jockey 'lost huge lead' in race 

Irish-based Fallon is on trial at the Old Bailey
Jockey Kieren Fallon came second in a race he should have won "at a canter", a trial has been told.
Jonathan Caplan QC, prosecuting, said the champion jockey seemed to stop riding Ballinger Ridge as he entered the home stretch with a huge lead.

A ruling body later found he made an error of judgement in the race at Lingfield in March 2004.

Six defendants at the Old Bailey deny conspiracy to defraud customers of the internet betting exchange Betfair.

'Virtually doing nothing'

Mr Fallon, 42, of Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, told a stewards' inquiry into the race that he had given the horse "a breather", the court was told.

He claimed he was afraid the animal would become "legless" if he kept up the pace, the court heard.

  Fallon eases the horse down, which would send the message to the horse that the race was over

Jonathan Caplan QC
The Jockey Club was not aware of the full picture at the time, Mr Caplan told the court, adding that an expert for the prosecution had since found the ride to be "not a marginal case of a jockey dropping his hands".

The prosecutor told the jury: "He [the expert] notes that passing the two-furlong marker Ballinger Ridge was five or six lengths in front.

"But Fallon then dramatically slows his momentum to the point where he is doing virtually nothing.

"Prior to the one-furlong marker Fallon turns and looks back. The other runners are four to five lengths behind.

"Fallon eases the horse down, which would send the message to the horse that the race was over."

'No reason'

The court was told that the Australian expert had then found Mr Fallon looking round again at the half-furlong, but "only tries to get going again" when another horse, Rye, is going past.

He said: "By that time Ballinger Ridge has lost momentum. There is no legitimate reason that a jockey would need to be looking back and steadying his horse down with a furlong still to go.

"When you look at all the evidence in this case, you can be sure Mr Fallon wanted Rye to be the winner."

Mr Caplan told the court how betting syndicate boss Miles Rodgers, 38, of Silkstone, South Yorkshire, had placed £74,000 on Ballinger Ridge to lose the race.

He alleged that fellow jockey Fergal Lynch, 29, of Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, acted as an intermediary between Mr Rodgers and Mr Fallon in a conspiracy to make horses lose.

£160,000 loss

Mr Caplan also said that on the day of the race, Mr Rodgers phoned Mr Lynch nine times before the race and that Mr Lynch sent a text message to Mr Fallon just under two hours prior to the race's start.

Mr Caplan told the court that the Jockey Club called the police after the race in March 2004, and in mid-May, an investigation was started.

Then, on 15 May, Mr Fallon won a race on Russian Rhythm, a horse Mr Rodgers had backed to lose, the jury was told.

Mr Rodgers was angered at the win which cost him £160,000, it was alleged.

The jury was told that after Mr Rodgers was unable to confront Mr Fallon face-to-face, twelve days after the race an undercover policeman saw Mr Rodgers, Mr Lynch's brother, Shaun Lynch, and a man called Philip Sherkle driving towards Mr Fallon's house near Newmarket.

'Big Man'

The court also heard that in August a ticket had been bought for Mr Fallon to accompany Mr Lynch and Mr Rodgers on a trip to Spain to meet the "Big Man" in the conspiracy.

Mr Caplan told the jury: "Although Fallon did not join them on the trip to Spain, a ticket for him had, in fact, been purchased by Fergal Lynch.

"The ticket confirmation had been seized after Fallon's arrest from the glove compartment of his car. Fallon was a 'no show' on the flight.

"That trip was made, at least in part, to enable Rodgers and Fergal Lynch to meet with the persons residing in Spain who were parties to this conspiracy."

Mr Fallon, Mr Rodgers and Mr Lynch, as well as Mr Lynch's brother Shaun Lynch, 37, of Derry, Northern Ireland, Darren Williams, 29, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire and Philip Sherkle, 42, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, have all pleaded not guilty to being involved in the conspiracy.

Mr Rodgers also denies concealing the proceeds of crime.

Mr Fallon has won six champion jockey titles in the UK and on Sunday he won France's biggest race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

The trial continues.

That race with Ballinger Ridge did look suspicious when I saw it on tv the other night, it was very odd that that horse lost that particular race. That's all I really know of these allegedly dodgy races and it appeared strange to me.

[Sandy Hill]

I think the man is a legend and I sincerely hope he is found not gulty!

[heganboy]

on the basis of
"the horse was in front and looked like he was going to win but lost"
argument surely I should by able to claim back my 2.50 and sue the jockeys on half the feckin horses I've every bet on

[ludermor]

why did he go so far ahead in the first place?

[Smokin Joe]

The Ballinger Ridge race was too obvious for him to be stopping the horse.  I would say that he misjudged the winning post, hence why he stopped riding.
If he was looking to get the horse beat I have no doubt that he could have done it in a much more subtle way - unless he was trying to double bluff of course

[Sandy Hill]

Source; BBC News 

Last Updated: Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 16:24 GMT 17:24 UK 

E-mail this to a friend   Printable version 

Fallon conspiracy claims 'absurd' 

Mr Fallon, who won France's biggest race at the weekend, denies the allegations
The lawyer for jockey Kieren Fallon has told a court the race-fixing case against his client was "absurd".
The prosecution claims Mr Fallon and two jockeys conspired to lose 27 races between December 2002 and August 2004.

But John Kelsey-Fry QC told the Old Bailey Mr Fallon's winning rate in those races was much higher than in others he entered.

Six defendants, including Mr Fallon, deny conspiracy to defraud customers of internet betting exchange Betfair.

Mr Kelsey-Fry said police had misinterpreted snippets of conversation and spun them into a conspiracy.

'Driven by desire to win'

He said his client had been a champion jockey six times and added "he is a man driven by a desire to win".

  If the crown's allegation is right, Fallon's win rate was 150% higher when he was trying to lose than when he was trying to win

John Kelsey-Fry QC


Officer 'not impartial' 

He pointed out Mr Fallon's average strike rate on horses between 2002 and 2004 was 19%.

But it rose to 29.4% in the races which are included in the indictment.

He said: "That means that if the Crown's allegation is right, that Fallon's win rate was 150% higher when he was trying to lose than when he was trying to win."

'Simply ridiculous'

Mr Kelsey-Fry said the allegation was "simply ridiculous" and he pointed out that trainer Sir Michael Stoute had praised Mr Fallon's "tremendous ride" on Russian Rhythm, which won a race Mr Fallon is said to have conspired to lose.

He said horse racing is a sport based on opinions and pointed out that on 7 October, Mr Fallon had expressed his own opinion to the BBC's Clare Balding just before riding Dylan Thomas in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.

Mr Fallon, 42, of Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, had told Ms Balding the ground was too soft for his mount and he would have rather been aboard his horse's stablemate Soldier of Fortune.

Mr Kelsey-Fry said Mr Fallon had sounded "positively depressed" and added "anyone watching that would have thought Kieran Fallon was going to lose.


All six defendants deny there was any conspiracy

"If [co-defendant Miles Rodgers] had been watching, he would have probably have rushed off to lay the horse.

"Half an hour later, Mr Fallon won on Dylan Thomas."

Opinion sharing

Laying the horse is a racing term which means backing a horse to lose.

Mr Kelsey-Fry had admitted his client had discussed various horses with co-defendants Fergal Lynch, Darren Williams and Philip Sherkle.

"He was willing to share opinions with Mr Sherkle - who was a friend - about who he fancied and who he didn't fancy.

"It was not a corrupt relationship. There was nothing wrong with it. The whole world wants to know his opinion on horses."

Mr Kelsey-Fry referred in court to a race in Newmarket in July 2004, which Mr Fallon rode a horse called Daring Aim - owned by the Queen.

  If ever there was a horse which Kieren Fallon could have chosen to lose on, it was Daring Aim

John Kelsey-Fry QC

He said: "If ever there was a horse which Kieren Fallon could have chosen to lose on, it was Daring Aim.

"And if ever there was a race which showed why he was a champion jockey, it was this one.

"Daring Aim was a cussed, difficult, reluctant filly up against a heavily backed favourite."

He then went on to quote the race report from the following day's Racing Post, which described the horse as being "kept about her business" by Mr Fallon, who was "not about to admit defeat".

He said the Daring Aim race had been a gilt-edged opportunity to lose without attracting any criticism, but Mr Fallon showed all his skills to win the race.

Mr Kelsey-Fry also pointed out there had been no stewards' inquiries into any of the 17 races involving Mr Fallon.

Mr Fallon, Miles Rodgers, 38, from Silkstone, South Yorkshire, and Fergal Lynch, 29, from Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, Mr Lynch's brother Shaun Lynch, 37, of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Mr Sherkle, 42, of Tamworth, Staffordshire and Mr Williams, 29, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, have all pleaded not guilty to being involved in the alleged race-fixing scam.

Mr Rodgers also denies concealing the proceeds of crime.

The trial continues.

Great start by Kieren Fallon's barrister!!