WA racing industry peak bodies today stand by the integrity of WA’s stewards’ investigations into alleged race fixing.
Representatives from WA’s thoroughbred trainers, owners, breeders and jockey associations have met with stewards to view footage of alleged fixed races named in an anonymous letter, and together all can confirm there is unequivocal support and confidence in the stewards’ determinations.
Iconic industry and WA Racing Hall of Fame trainer Fred Kersley said “The trainers, jockeys, breeders and owners very often don’t agree, but today I witnessed unity across the racing industry. On the behalf of my racing colleagues I can state we all have absolute confidence in the governance and the integrity of racing in WA.”
WA Trainers Association President, Michael Grant said “Today I was in the room with my industry colleagues where there was more than 350 years of training experience, including 24 premierships amongst us. We viewed the films of each race and were briefed on all the betting movements, and I can categorically state that there was nothing untoward in the running of the races or associated betting fluctuations as stated in the anonymous letter.”
WA Racehorse Owners Association President, Harvey Crossman said “The perception of WA racing is at its lowest as a result of an anonymous letter containing only opinions and no evidence. It’s regrettable than an unsigned, unattributed anonymous letter has caused so much damage to the integrity of WA’s racing industry. The lack of confidence in the industry has the potential to drive owners away from racing, and for this reason I’m gravely concerned.”
Craig Staples said, “I have been riding for 18 years, and my wife Lisa is also a senior jockey. As the President of the WA Jockeys’ Association, I am representing professional sportspeople risking their lives every ride. Today I attended a meeting along with other senior jockeys, including Paul Harvey a 12 time premiership winner. Having seen all the stewards’ evidence and on the behalf of WA jockeys, I concur with the rest of my racing colleagues. To my knowledge, I am very confident there is nothing untoward happening in WA racing.”
Thoroughbred Breeders Association President Ian Riley said, “WA Breeders derive their livelihood from breeding thoroughbreds for WA racing. Having viewed the races and all available evidence, we are totally confident in the processes followed by the stewards to investigate what we now know to be false allegations of race fixing.”
