Jockeys Robert Winston, Fran Ferris, Robbie Fitzpatrick and Luke Fletcher face allegations by British racing’s regulators that they “passed on information for reward and or aided and abetted the commission of a corrupt practice”.

Star jockey Frankie Dettori leapt to the defence of British racing in the wake of a BBC Panorama expose which had claimed the sport was “institutionally corrupt”.

Michael Caulfield, chief executive of the Jockeys Association of Great Britain, has issued a robust defence of the country’s riders in the light of last night’s BBC Panorama expose.