A much higher number of people have been involved than usual John Maxse the

A much higher number of people have been involved than usual,” John Maxse, the Jockey Club spokesman, said yesterday. “Statements have been taken from betting representatives on and off the course and from a number of other people as well.”These statements were reviewed by a panel combining stewards of the Jockey Club and members of the disciplinary department. “The security department have been collecting a number of statements. Keld has subsequently finished second in a Listed race.The Lingfield stewards referred the matter to Portman Square, not least because Keld’s trainer, James Fanshawe, was not at the course to account for his filly’s display.

And there was also the further evidence of the betting patterns. Cochrane said at the time that he had simply made an error of judgement. The four-year-old filly was an uneasy favourite in the market that day, drifting from 11-10 to 2-1 before finishing fifth behind The Prince, who was well backed from 6-1 to 4-1 The manner of her defeat was similarly eyecatching. Cochrane took an individual route on the far rail, a tactic which had proved fruitless when attempted by two runners earlier in the afternoon.Punters expressed their resentment and there was dissatisfaction too from off-course bookmakers who reported unusual betting patterns. No charges were brought against him.
Now Cochrane must answer to his riding of Keld at Lingfield on 7 May. The Derby-winning jockey has only recently emerged from the ongoing investigation into race-fixing and doping within racing. Ronnie Massarella has selected Nick Skelton to go first on Hopes are High, followed by Michael Whitaker on Virtual Village Ashley, Di Lampard on Abbervail Dream and John Whitaker on Flower..

RAY COCHRANE will be back on the mat later this month as the Jockey Club adjudicates on whether he is guilty of riding a “non-trier” and acting in a manner “prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing”. Since buying the 13-year-old mare from Raymond Fenwick in May, Smith has won national classes at at several shows.
Smith is, however, likely to rely on 19-year-old Senator Tees Hanauer for Sunday’s Kerrygold Grand Prix, the horse with which he won this event two years ago. The horse is also preferred for this month’s European Championships at Hickstead in which Smith has already earned his place on the British squad.One error kept Smith and Tees Hanauer out of the jump-off for the later Kerrygold Classic, in which Geoff Billington and Virtual Village It’s Otto returned to form when he jumped a double clear round for fourth place.Philippe Lejeune, who won this contest for Belgium on Double O Seven, made shorter, clearer turns, but Billington, the only Briton to reach the jump-off, settled happily for the slower clear round which has put him back on track for a possible place in the European Championship squad.Billington and Smith, who are both competing here as individuals, could not be chosen for the British team that competes in today’s Nations Cup. ROBERT SMITH and Senator Almare achieved their first international victory together when they won the Kerrygold Accumulator by a comfortable 3.11 seconds at the Dublin Horse Show yesterday. The second saw Suzan van der Wielen scoring at the far post.England, with their teenagers Helen Richardson and Kate Walsh showing great potential, tried in vain to equalise against a Dutch defence marshalled by Julie Deiters. In the dying seconds England won another penalty corner but were unable to get a shot in.Results, Digest, page 23.