Buffham on revenge mission - Jockeys chief
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.
Caulfield dismissed the allegations made against the integrity of some jockeys as “grossly unfair” and believes the assertions are 'simply not true'.
Roger Buffham, former head of security at the Jockey Club, alleged in a programme - ‘The Corruption of Racing’ - that "a whole generation of National Hunt jockeys had close links to organised crime".
Caulfield today disputed that assertion and insisted there is no real evidence to back Buffham’s claims.
"The main allegation made was that there was a generation of corrupt jockeys and that simply isn’t true," Caulfield told attheraces.
"There’s no evidence to back that up and it’s a shame that you still hear an ex-employee of the Jockey Club going on that there was a corrupt group of jockeys.
"That was his main mission and he was not successful in that mission due to, I’m afraid, a lack in the standard of evidence, and you can’t ignore that fact throughout this programme.
"He came across as, I have to say, full of his own self-importance which is always a real danger sign and simply he’s a very bitter man, on a mission of revenge which I don’t think which he’s quite achieved."
Caulfield revealed that despite the furore surrounding the programme, the jockeys he has been in contact with in recent days have been largely unaffected by the allegations and are focusing on the job in hand.
"The ones I saw yesterday – they’re used to this sort of accusation, particularly from Roger Buffham if the truth be known.
"Yesterday they were looking forward to yesterday’s racing and today they will be looking forward to today’s racing."
He added: "They are a pretty hardy, and I have to say decent and honest group of sports people and to have that wild, sweeping generalisation made of them is just just grossly unfair."
Caulfield also had some harsh words for Dermot Browne, a former jockey who featured in the programme claiming to have doped 27 horses on the instructions of an organised crime group led by Brian Wright.
Browne was warned off by the Jockey Club for 10 years in 1992 and Caulfield believes he is an unreliable witness.
He explained: “I think we see what was once a talented young man just fall into this trap of just trying to get by in life and making a few quid at any possible opportunity.
"He’s simply a man you can no longer believe and that was the case many, many years ago.
“I really cannot believe anything he comes out with on the topic of horseracing. He’s not a man who’s been seen for many years in the sport anyway as he’s been warned off.
"I simply don’t accept the fact that he was able to administer some form of drug or tranquilliser to 27 horses. I just don’t believe him and I’m quite open about that."
Caulfield admits there are people who try to forge relationships in order to gain an advantage on the betting front but he asserts that by and large jockeys are aware of the risks they run.
"There are always going to be some people who want to try to get close to sports people, particularly jockeys because the first question anyone would ever ask a jockey is what’s going to win today, what’s going to win tomorrow," he said.
"Unfortunately, people looking for information or looking to be dodgy don’t have a big badge saying 'Hello, I’m a dodgy person' on their lapel so jockeys have to be very much on their guard which I think they are most of the time.
"They are aware of the dangers involved and to survive at the top level, as many of today’s jockeys have both on the Flat and National Hunt, they are there because they work hard, they’re good jockeys with a great attitude and they’re able to spot any sort of bad person who wants to hang around with them.
"But again last night, it was grossly unfair because of the stunning lack of evidence and I will say over the years the Jockey Club have learned they cannot take away a man or woman’s livelihood just on rumour, on innuendo, on information and intelligence. You can only actually take action when you have hard evidence and there has been a huge gap in the evidence all along in these so-called race-fixing issues."
Caulfield reiterated his confidence in the ability of the Jockey Club to police the sport, despite the barrage of criticism which has headed their way following the programme.
He added: "This sport is unbelievably straight and clean. I think this is due to two things - the decency and honesty of the great majority of its participants and the regulation and the rules laid down by the governing body.
"Once you have married those two up it’s a highly regulated sport and I should say I would have no hesitation in supporting and backing racing in this country at the moment.
"It’s the best time to be involved."
