Horse Racing: Three Arrested in Conspiracy Case

The long-running police investigation into allegations of corruption and race-fixing widened still further yesterday when three men, including the trainer Alan Berry and the jockey Paul Bradley, were arrested by officers from the City of London police. Steve O'Sullivan, a farrier at Berry's yard, was also detained.

All three were arrested at 7am at the trainer's Moss Side Stables at Cockerham, near Lancaster, and questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

The latest development in the investigation takes the total number of arrests in the case to date to 25, including Kieren Fallon, the former champion Flat jockey, who was one of 16 people arrested and then bailed in September.

Six more were arrested and bailed the following month. It is less than three months since Berry, Bradley and O'Sullivan were cleared by the Jockey Club on a charge of conspiracy to defraud arising from a controversial race involving the filly Hillside Girl at Carlisle in June 2003.

Hillside Girl, who was trained by Berry and ridden by Bradley, drifted on the Betfair betting exchange in the minutes before the Fathers Day Novice Auction Maiden Stakes on June 15, from odds-on to 21-1 against. She was pulled up lame after racing for just two furlongs.

At a Jockey Club hearing on September 14, Berry was found to have failed to train Hillside Girl with due regard to her safety. However, he, Bradley and O'Sullivan were all cleared of a more serious charge of "conspiring for the commission of a corrupt practice - by running Hillside Girl when she was known to be lame."

After the Hillside Girl race details of O'Sullivan's Betfair account were leaked to the Racing Post. Amongst various successes with laying losers his account also showed one significant reverse, when Berry's Nearly Before Time won a race at 14-1. The victory, which occurred a week before Hillside Girl ran at Carlisle, cost O'Sullivan more than £100,000.

The Jockey Club also launched an investigation after reports that significant bets were laid on Nimello before he finished 13th of 20 runners in a claimer at Salisbury, another run that attracted the attention of racing officials. Nimello was owned by the Platinum Racing Club, whose managing director, Miles Rodgers, was warned off for two years by the Jockey Club last March for laying two of his club's horses on betting exchanges before they were well beaten.

Rodgers was one of the 16 people detained by police during their initial series of arrests in September, while Fallon has said since his own arrest that he was questioned by the investigators over his relationship with Rodgers, who describes the Jockey Club ruling as "a travesty" and denies wrongdoing.

The Jockey Club refused to comment yesterday on the latest arrests. "It is in the hands of the police and I do not want to blur the lines," John Maxse, the club's PR director, said. "Ever since the City of London Police took the case on the investigation has been wholly in their hands."

However, delays are now expected in an ongoing Jockey Club disciplinary case involving various individuals including Dale Jewett, an amateur rider, arising from the Hillside Girl affair. Jewett and others are charged with exploiting information gained in the course of their employment.

Rupert Arnold, the chief executive of the National Trainers Federation, conceded that the latest arrests "bring racing the type of publicity that it can ill afford."

However, he added: "We must never forget that [Berry], like all the others, is innocent until proved otherwise. We therefore hope that the police investigation is completed speedily so that any inference for the integrity of racing is clarified and can be dealt with for the benefit of the sport."

It was expected that Berry, Bradley and O'Sullivan would be released on police bail last night following questioning. The bail is likely to extend at least until April, when the remaining individuals arrested to date, including Fallon, are all due to report to the police.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether any more individuals will be detained in the coming weeks.

The current police investigation certainly shows no sign of losing momentum, and as April 2005 draws closer - with a former champion jockey among those on bail and potentially facing charges - the level of nervous tension in the racing industry can only increase.

Men at the centre of a storm

Alan Berry

Took over the licence at Moss Side Stables in 2000 following the retirement of his successful father, Jack. Saddled 73 winners that year, a record for a first-season trainer, including Strange Destiny, who won the Listed St Hugh's Stakes at Newbury. Increased total to 76 successes the following year, but strike-rate has declined sharply since - to 46 in 2002 and 32 the following year - after a persistent virus in the yard. Has 36 winners so far this year.

Paul Bradley

One of the most frequent partners of Berry's horses, riding 11 winners from 447 over the last five seasons. Most valuable return came from a second place on Bon Ami in the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood in 2000. Has also enjoyed association with Tuscan Dream, notably as an apprentice when winning a handicap worth almost £11,000. Found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud by the Jockey Club over the running and riding of Hillside Girl.

Steve O'Sullivan

Freelance farrier responsible for shoeing most of the horses in Berry's yard. Known to have been a major player on the Betfair betting exchange around the time of Hillside Girl's race at Carlisle in June 2003.

Along with Berry and Bradley he was cleared by the Jockey Club on September 14 of a charge of "conspiring for the commission of a corrupt practice - by running Hillside Girl when she was known to be lame."