Racehorse TALK

Patrick Smith From: The Australian February 13, 2010

A FAMOUS Australian racing family is at the centre of unrelated stewards' probes in two states over betting irregularities.
It is believed Betfair integrity officers noted unusual betting patterns in certain accounts and notified stewards in Melbourne and Queensland.

Betting investigations in Victoria and Queensland have been ramped up after Victorian racing stewards broadened an inquiry into the performance of a horse ridden by leading jockey Danny Nikolic at Mornington last month.

Chief steward Terry Bailey would not comment but it is believed Racing Victoria's integrity team was looking at as many as four recent Nikolic rides. "In fairness to everyone involved I cannot comment any further than to say Nikolic has been told the Mornington inquiry has broadened," Bailey said.

In Queensland, trainer John Nikolic, Danny's brother, yesterday faced stewards again after Baby Boom, a short-priced favourite ridden by jockey John Keating, finished fourth. The stewards report after the race said a post-race veterinary examination of Baby Boom failed to reveal any significant abnormalities. Queensland chief steward Wade Birch confirmed yesterday that unusual trends on betting exchange Betfair drove the initial inquiry.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
It is believed this Queensland inquiry may also be broadened to examine several other races which included Nikolic-trained runners. Birch said Queensland racing would be happy to work with Victorian stewards if required.

"At the moment our investigations centre only on the Sunshine Coast race," Birch said.

Bailey would not confirm that different betting patterns on Betfair had drawn the stewards to look at other races in more detail. "We look at all sorts of betting records," Bailey said.

Betfair, an international betting exchange whose Australian base is in Tasmania, allows punters to back horses to lose.

Victorian stewards opened an investigation when odds-on favourite Finishing Card, ridden by Nikolic, was beaten into second place by New Venture in a 1210m maiden at Mornington on January 8. The stewards report on the day said in part: "D Nikolic explained that after jumping from a wide barrier and being caught wide he would have had to restrain to the rear of the field to find cover and therefore allowed the gelding to stride forward."

One newspaper report described the run this way: "The Clinton McDonald-trained Finishing Card drew barrier 13, covered plenty of extra ground and flew home late. New Venture enjoyed a perfect run behind the leader and took advantage of a rails run to win."

Queensland stewards yesterday released a statement after they continued their inquiry into the performance of Baby Boom at the Sunshine Coast on January 3. It read: "Based on information obtained during investigations carried out in respect to betting on the race, the bounds of the inquiry were expanded to include the running and handling of Baby Boom on that day. Of particular concern to stewards was the Betfair activity on the race surrounding Baby Boom which indicated that a large volume of money had been wagered in support of the horse being unsuccessful.

"Trainer John Nikolic and rider John Keating were both questioned immediately following the race and both were directed to appear before the stewards today.

"At today's inquiry, evidence was taken from Mr Nikolic regarding his association with a Gold Coast punter who at this stage has declined requests from stewards to assist in their investigations.

"Mr Nikolic was also asked about the relationship he has with a person believed to be a commission agent based in Melbourne. This person was interviewed by chief steward Wade Birch in Melbourne last week.

"Further evidence was also taken from jockey John Keating who rode Baby Boom on the day in question."

The report concluded saying the inquiry had been adjourned to a time and date to be fixed.

Danny Nikolic, 35, is one of Australia's finest riders, a prolific Group I winner, who has ridden extensively overseas. He won the 2003 Caulfield Cup on Mummify for trainer Lee Freedman. He was stable rider for the prominent Lloyd Williams' team, winning Group Is on Perlin (Doomben Cup, Underwood Stakes) and Reset (Futurity Stakes, Australasian Stakes).

Older brother John had a long stint training in Malaysia before returning to Queensland.

The licensing of betting exchange Betfair in Australia was fought vigorously by the racing establishment. It was seen as a risk to integrity because it was possible to bet on horses to lose. It was also opposed because it was seen as a threat to tote betting which traditionally provided racing's revenue.