Chandler disappointed with Panorama team
In Sunday night’s programme ‘The Corruption of Racing’ he was accused of offering certain trainers no-lose accounts.
But Chandler said: ‘‘I’d like to emphasise two important points.
‘‘Firstly the programme gave the erroneous impression that we have something to hide. Nothing could be further from the truth.
‘‘During our seven-month dialogue with Panorama, we have fully answered every question they put to us.
‘‘When approached by newspapers about the letters in July, we couldn’t have been more transparent. We voluntarily made copies of the original letters freely available to the press.
‘‘We issued a full statement that was circulated to all major news organisations through the Press Association, and I gave an in-depth interview to the Racing Post.
‘‘During our dialogue with the BBC we reminded them on a number of occasions that they were obliged to give us the right to respond to any specific points raised in the programme. So we were naturally disappointed that the programme makers didn’t take us up on our offer to answer any questions they may have had relating to the letters.
‘‘Secondly, all this happened nearly 10 years ago and concerns a handful of letters that, at the time, didn’t contravene one single guideline whatsoever. We have long discontinued this practice and fully embrace the Jockey Club’s decision to introduce a new code in 2001.
‘‘As someone who has committed his entire life to horseracing, I will be delighted if the documentary results in genuine improvements and clarification of grey areas across the industry.
‘‘However, the programme did contain certain inaccuracies and inconsistencies that we will be closely looking into and responding to at the appropriate time.’’
Roger Buffham could once again supply the background material to a follow-up programme.
The former head of security at the Jockey Club was one of the key witnesses in the hour-long broadcast, which set out to expose wrongdoing in the sport.
The BBC received over 300 emails in the aftermath of the show and the corporation is now considering a follow-up programme.
‘‘We are not ruling it out,’’ a BBC spokesman said. ‘‘Stephen Scott, Panorama’s producer, has said there is more information and I think this is based on more information from Roger Buffham. That is my understanding of it.
‘‘Stephen Scott is going to continue looking into it.’’
One person who will not be staying up to watch the next instalment is seven-time champion jump jockey John Francome, who was not impressed with Sunday’s programme.
He said: ‘‘I was annoyed that I stayed up to watch it. It was absolutely pathetic. There was nothing in it - nothing in it at all.
‘‘It just makes you realise the power of the media and television that they can hype a story up about absolutely nothing.’’
The Jockey Club came in for severe criticism in the show with Panorama charging racing’s regulatory body with a lack of conviction in their attempts to tackle corruption.
But Francome, who is now a Channel 4 Racing pundit, added: ‘‘If you put anyone of those reporters in a position at the Jockey Club they wouldn’t have been able to do anything more.’’
Whatever the views of racing’s professionals initial viewing figures have delighted the BBC.
An audience of 3.9 million watched the hour-long broadcast making it one of the most popular Panoramas screened.
The BBC spokesman continued: ‘‘The initial figure for the programme is 3.9 million and the average for Panorama is about three and I think it’s the fifth-best since Panorama moved to Sunday. So it has done well.’’
This outshone one of the most important races in the calendar, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which was shown on BBC 2 on Sunday afternoon and attracted one million viewers.
Panorama’s editor Mike Robinson said: ‘‘The programme was another classic example of Panorama scrutinising the use and abuse of power and that the programme has raised serious questions on how the racing public has been let down by the Jockey Club but we’ve been delighted with the audience response since the programme.’’
