Nikolic Case May Lead To Rule Changes

Wednesday, 23 June 2010 11:45

The Danny Nikolic case may lead to an expanding of the rules governing what jockeys can and can't say about their mounts prior to a race, Richard Smith SC, representing Nikolic, told the Racing Appeals And Disciplinary Board on Wednesday.

On the third day of the hearing when summing up, Smith said it would be inappropriate for the Board in the Nikolic case to draw a line regarding where a jockey's comments became prejudicial to the interests of racing.

"If you were only permitted to answer questions about a horses chances only in the positive as opposed to honest responses it would be a very dangerous or unfair thing to punish the jockey for answering the question honestly," Smith told the Board.

"It may be that the Board is of the opinion that the jockey is asked about how his horse is going to go in the fifth, that the jockey has to say `what's your occupation, are you a professional punter, do you have a Betfair account, is it your habit to lay horses'.

"Maybe that's the system, we think that would be ridiculous.

"We say that if a jockey has communicated to an associate that his mount is not trying today, that would undoubtedly constitute improper conduct and conduct prejudicial to the interests of racing."

Board chairman Judge Russell Lewis said: "If a honest answer is given and the jockey knows someone is going to act upon it, that's where the jockey gets into trouble.

"Jockeys give opinions on TVN about their mounts day in day out and the stewards allow it to happen."

Smith said the rules were a matter for racing authorities and pointed out that jockeys in Japan were "locked up" a day before a race meeting and could not contact anyone else other than their family to say goodnight to the kids or something of that nature.

Smith said the public perception of the case was of no relevance whatsoever.

He summed up his case by saying there was not a whiff of evidence to prove that Nikolic gave information to associates including warning off professional punter and commission agent Neville Clements that his mounts couldn't win or that he should go out and lay them to lose.

Nikolic has pleaded not guilty to two charges of improper practice and two of conduct prejudicial to the interests of racing.

"I can't stress enough in this case that there is not a whiff of evidence that Mr Nikolic gave information that his mounts couldn't win or told people to go out and lay them which has been put forward as the stewards case," Smith said.

Smith said the stewards' case centred around Nikolic giving information to associates which led them to lay a number of his mounts with confidence.

And that they had "danced around" the more sinister connotation that "this horse isn't trying today" even though he had not been charged over any of his rides queried during the course of the stewards' investigation.

"There is no such rule that says you can't communicate with people," Smith told the Board.

Smith submitted that there was no rule against jockeys tipping their mounts and that lay bets were legal "most likely had the bets in question been win bets rather than lay bets we would not be sitting here today".

Smith said Nikolic had admitted right from the outset of the inquiry he had a relationship with Clements and that he rings him "all the time".

Paul Holdenson QC, representing Racing Victoria stewards, after grilling Nikolic about the frequency and his timing of calls to Clements, that an inference could be made that Clements, a former rails bookmaker, was a layer of horses and that Nikolic knew that.

"There is an irresistible inference that these people had extreme confidence to lay these horses knowing that one of Australia's best jockeys had passed on information," he said.

The RADB will announce its decision next Tuesday.