FOUR JOCKEYS, ONE TRAINER, A DISQUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL AND SIX OTHERS CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH 40 RACES

Published: Friday 24 Nov 2006

Following a Security Department investigation, jockeys Josh Byrne, Fran Ferris, Shane Kelly and David Nolan, licensed trainer Phil McEntee, disqualified former owner Ajaz Khan and six individuals not bound by the Rules of Racing (‘unlicensed individuals’) have been informed that they face various charges in relation to 40 races that took place between September 2004 and March 2005.

The relevant races and the licensed individuals involved are:

DATE COURSE JOCKEY / TRAINER HORSE

16.09.04 Yarmouth Phil McEntee BAYTOWN FLYER

7.10.04 Wolverhampton Phil McEntee PIDDIES PRIDE

18.10.04 Wolverhampton Phil McEntee GOOD WEE GIRL

16.11.04 Lingfield Phil McEntee PIDDIES PRIDE

23.11.04 Southwell Shane Kelly / Phil McEntee SIRAJ

27.11.04 Wolverhampton Shane Kelly / Phil McEntee ANDURIL

1.12.04 Southwell Fran Ferris COCO REEF

4.12.04 Lingfield Fran Ferris IM AIMEE

12.1.04 Southwell David Nolan / Fran Ferris STAR LAD

15.12.04 Lingfield David Nolan / Fran Ferris HAGLEY PARK

20.12.04 Lingfield David Nolan / Fran Ferris POMPEY BLUE

20.12.04 Lingfield David Nolan / Fran Ferris MUJKARI

21.12.04 Southwell Shane Kelly LIZARAZU

22.12.04 Lingfield Shane Kelly GLINTING DESERT

22.12.04 Lingfield Shane Kelly ADANTINO

31.12.04 Wolverhampton Fran Ferris FERRARA FLAME

2.1.05 Southwell David Nolan / Fran Ferris NUZZLE

2.1.05 Southwell David Nolan / Fran Ferris NEUTRAL NIGHT

4.1.05 Wolverhampton Shane Kelly TROPICAL SON

4.1.05 Wolverhampton Fran Ferris BOLD WOLF

7.1.05 Wolverhampton David Nolan / Fran Ferris HAWKES RUN

8.1.05 Uttoxeter Josh Byrne POLLENSA BAY

11.1.05 Sedgefield Josh Byrne DARK CUT

12.1.05 Lingfield Fran Ferris ORCHESTRATION

13.1.05 Lingfield Fran Ferris IM AIMEE

14.1.05 Wolverhampton Shane Kelly BELLA PAVLINA

18.1.05 Southwell Shane Kelly COMPTON ARROW

20.1.05 Ludlow Josh Byrne SILVER SAMUEL

21.1.05 Wolverhampton Shane Kelly MUY BIEN

21.1.05 Wolverhampton Fran Ferris THEATRE LADY

22.1.05 Lingfield David Nolan VIZULIZE

25.1.05 Southwell Shane Kelly COMPTON ARROW

1.2.05 Lingfield Phil McEntee PIDDIES PRIDE

1.2.05 Southwell Fran Ferris FIREBIRD RISING

2.2.05 Leicester Josh Byrne SHADY GREY

15.2.05 Southwell Shane Kelly ESCALADE

15.2.05 Southwell Shane Kelly ZORN

18.2.05 Wolverhampton Shane Kelly BELLA PAVLINA

19.2.05 Wolverhampton Fran Ferris DAYBREAK DANCER

28.3.05 Warwick Shane Kelly LOCAL FANCY

JOSH BYRNE, FRAN FERRIS, SHANE KELLY, PHIL McENTEE and DAVID NOLAN*

*DAVID NOLAN IN RELATION TO VIZULIZE RACE ON 22.1.05 ONLY – FOR OTHERS SEE BELOW

Josh Byrne, Fran Ferris, Shane Kelly, Phil McEntee and David Nolan (in relation to the VIZULIZE race) are charged, in relation to the races in which they took part as a rider or trainer, with a breach of:

Rule 243 by communicating to Ajaz Khan, for material reward, gift, favour or benefit in kind information that was not publicly available or provided for in Appendix N to the Rules (‘Inside Information’) about the horse named against that race;

and/or

Rule 220(i) by aiding and abetting the commission of a corrupt and/or fraudulent practice by Ajaz Khan (namely, directly or indirectly laying the Named Horse in that race with the benefit of Inside Information relating to its prospects in the race – in breach of Rule 201(v)) by communicating to Ajaz Khan an agreement, assurance or other Inside Information relating to the horse’s prospects in that race knowing that, or being reckless as to whether, or contemplating as a real possibility that (i) such information was Inside Information and (ii) Ajaz Khan would use or enable someone else to use it for such a corrupt and/or fraudulent practice.

DAVID NOLAN

Rule 243 by communicating to Fran Ferris for material reward, gift, favour or benefit in kind information that was not publicly available or provided for in Appendix N to the Rules (‘Inside Information’) about the horses he rode in the races listed above (except VIZULIZE on 22.1.05);

and/or

Rule 220(i) by aiding and abetting the commission of a corrupt and/or fraudulent practice by Ajaz Khan (namely, directly or indirectly laying the Named Horse in that race with the benefit of Inside Information relating to its prospects in the race – in breach of Rule 201(v)) by communicating to Fran Ferris an agreement, assurance or other Inside Information relating to the horse’s prospects in the race knowing that, or being reckless as to whether, or contemplating as a real possibility that (i) such information was Inside Information and (ii) Mr Ferris would use or enable someone else to use it for such a corrupt and/or fraudulent practice (except VIZULIZE on 22.1.05).

SHANE KELLY AND JOSH BYRNE – RUNNING AND RIDING

In relation to SHADY GREY (Josh Byrne) and LOCAL FANCY (Shane Kelly) both riders were found in breach of Rule 157 (Kelly – 14 day suspension) or 158 (Byrne – 7 days) on the day of the race and lodged appeals which have been put on hold pending this investigation. As an appeal is a re-hearing of the racecourse enquiry, the HRA are charging both riders with a breach of either Rule 157 or 158 in relation to these rides but this enquiry will also act as their appeal hearing.

Note: In relation to LOCAL FANCY, trainer James Eustace was found in breach of Rule 155 (ii) and fined £2000 for providing Shane Kelly with inadequate instructions necessary for the running and riding rules. He lodged an appeal against this finding which has been put on hold pending this investigation. It is not part of the HRA’s case that Mr Eustace was involved in the corrupt agreement which is alleged between Kelly and Khan and the HRA will therefore not contest his appeal.

FURTHER CHARGES AGAINST ALL LICENSED INDIVIDUALS

Each licensed individual is also charged with one or more breaches of each of:

Rule 220(viii) by endeavouring by an overt act to mislead Officials.

Rule 220(vii)(b) by providing inaccurate information.

Rule 241(i)(b) by hindering or obstructing a person duly approved and authorised by the HRA under Rule 1A(xxi), engaged in carrying out an investigation in connection with horseracing.

AJAZ KHAN

Ajaz Khan is charged, in relation to all of the above races, with a breach of:

Rule 220(ix), in that, at some point prior to the start of each race, he had dealings with the licensed persons referred to above, which caused that person to be in breach of Rule 243;

and/or

Rule 201(v), in that he committed a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to each race by laying and/or causing one or more other Betfair account holders to lay the Named Horse not to be placed in and/or to lose the race using information he had received from the licensed person relating to the prospects of the Named Horse in the race which was or included information (i) obtained by the licensed person in their capacity which was (ii) not publicly available or authorised for such disclosure by the Rules of Racing (‘Inside Information’), and knowing that (i) and (ii) were the case, or being reckless as to whether this was so.

MOHAMMED ALYAS, SAM ALYAS, GREG HEDGER, MOHAMMED IMTIAZ, ABDUL KHALIQUE AND TANYA MCGREGOR-READ

The Disciplinary Panel will also consider whether the above six individuals – Mohammed Alyas, Sam Alyas, Greg Hedger, Mohammed Imtiaz, Abdul Khalique and Tanya McGregor-Read – are liable to exclusion pursuant to Rules 2(v) in that they used one or more Betfair accounts in their name(s) to lay horses not to be placed in and/or not to win that race and/or authorised Khan so to use that Betfair account and thereby aided and abetted Khan’s commission of such a corrupt or fraudulent practice.

and/or

they unreasonably failed or refused to co-operate with enquiries made by investigators in relation to their role in and knowledge of the lay betting on the above races using their Betfair accounts.

A date for the substantive hearing will be set in due course. Due to the timetable in place for other enquiries it is unlikely to be before March 2007.

Friday 24th November 2006

Notes for Editors:

1. The relevant Rules in question are:

201 (v) – commission of a corrupt practice

243 – communicating information for reward

220 (i) – aiding or abetting a breach of the Rules

157 and 158 – horses running on their merits

220 (viii) – misleading an Official

241 (i) (b) – hindering an investigation

220 (ix) – causing jockeys to be in breach of Rules 243-7

2. Any licensed trainers or jockeys that either trained or rode the horses listed, and that have not been mentioned, are not being and will not be charged with any breaches of the Rules in respect of this investigation.

3. Ajaz Khan – The Disciplinary Panel of the HRA held an enquiry on 6th July 2006 to consider whether or not Ajaz Khan, a registered owner, had committed a breach of Rule 241(i)(a) of the Rules of Racing in respect of his failure to supply his telephone records in compliance with a Production Order issued by the HRA Security Department.

Mr Khan chose not to attend the hearing but the Panel considered correspondence, from solicitors acting for him, confirming that he did not intend to cooperate with any investigation.

The Panel found Mr Khan to be in breach of Rule 241 (i)(a) of the Rules of Racing and declared him to be a disqualified person with effect from 13th July 2006. It further informed him that no application to have the disqualification withdrawn would be considered before 1st July 2009.

4. Fran Ferris is not currently a licensed jockey but was at the time of these races.