The Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider Graham Bradley, Co Down-born jockey Ray Cochrane, who won the 1988 Epsom Derby, and former Lambourn trainer Charlie Brooks were arrested yesterday in connection with investigations into horse-doping and race-fixing. The three men were subsequently released on bail until March 10th.
Bradley and Cochrane were arrested yesterday morning by officers of the Metropolitan police's organised crime group at their homes in Berkshire and Suffolk respectively. They were then taken to a central London police station.
Later yesterday afternoon, Brooks voluntarily attended the police station and was subsequently arrested.
It's the latest development in a controversy that has dogged racing in Britain since four men, including three jockeys, were arrested in January 1997 in connection with the doping of horses and other incidents of race fixing.
Two of those riders, Jamie Osborne and Leighton Aspell, were subsequently released without charge but the other jockey Dean Gallagher is still on police bail. A total of 14 people have now been arrested in connection with the investigations, with five of those subsequently told that no action would be taken against them. Cochrane was the first to leave the police station last night and declared himself "amazed" with the arrests.
Cochrane added: "I had no inkling that this was going to happen. I've done nothing wrong. My solicitor looked after me and the police were quite good about it but I've got to come back on March 10th."
Bradley followed soon after and quipped: "I've had better days!" He said: "It's a bit of a shock and totally out of the blue. They interviewed me, gave me tea and toast and sent me on my way. But I have done nothing wrong. I've been bailed until March 10th but they did say it might be finished and over by then." Brooks's solicitor yesterday stated: "Mr Brooks is surprised at today's events and has offered voluntarily his full co-operation to the police. He wishes to make it clear that he has never at any stage participated in any activities which would contravene the rules of racing. He hopes his co-operation has assisted the police in their investigations."
The Jockey Club decided yesterday to allow Bradley and Cochrane to continue to ride despite the arrests. Last January the Jockey Club controversially suspended the licences of the three jockeys arrested then before later changing that decision.
A spokesman said yesterday: "The Jockey Club licensing committee has informed the two jockeys that their licences to ride have not been suspended. The licensing committee considered that the mere fact of their arrest, while having significant implications for the integrity of horse racing, did not pose sufficient threat to public confidence or the proper conduct of meetings to justify immediate suspension with its serious consequences for jockeys."
Bradley is engaged to ride four horses at Warwick this afternoon. Yesterday's developments are another severe blow to the image of racing in Britain as the three men arrested are high-profile figures within the sport.
Bradley, 38, has been one of the most successful big race jump jockeys over the past 15 years. His successes include the 1983 Gold Cup on Bregawn, the 1997 Champion Hurdle on Collier Bay and he has also won the Irish and Welsh Grand Nationals.
Cochrane, 41, has ridden for some of the biggest owners in world racing, including Sheikh Mohammed and the Aga Khan. He won the 1988 Derbys at Epsom and the Curragh for the Aga Khan on Kahyasi and has also won the English Oaks and 1,000 Guineas as well as the Irish 1,000 Guineas. He is the first Flat jockey to have been questioned in this investigation.
Brooks, 35, gave up training at his Lambourn stables at the end of the last jumps season. He first took out a training licence in 1989 and recently hit the headlines for the right reasons when training Suny Bay to twice finish runnerup in the Aintree Grand National. Since retiring from training, Brooks has been working for the Racing Channel and writing a column for the Daily Telegraph.
Jamie Osborne yesterday came out in support of those arrested. He urged people not to draw conclusions from the arrests and said: "Conclusions were drawn when I was arrested which proved not to be true and I am living proof of the fact that they (the police) are capable of arresting people without evidence and not finding any evidence.
"I would be confident that those arrested are in the same position as me and nothing will come of it. The organised crime group's knowledge of racing is very limited and they are capable of getting it wrong."
