JOCKEY Dan Nikolic said last night he would strenuously defend himself against two charges laid by Racing Victoria Ltd stewards relating to a six-week investigation into his handling of as many as 10 horses in races in Victoria, reports The Age.It says: After two weeks of speculation, RVL stewards yesterday charged Nikolic with failing to comply to a stewards' order to surrender his mobile phone when requested, and that he made an unauthorised phone call to professional punter and commission age
JOCKEY Dan Nikolic said last night he would strenuously defend himself against two charges laid by Racing Victoria Ltd stewards relating to a six-week investigation into his handling of as many as 10 horses in races in Victoria, reports The Age.
It says: After two weeks of speculation, RVL stewards yesterday charged Nikolic with failing to comply to a stewards' order to surrender his mobile phone when requested, and that he made an unauthorised phone call to professional punter and commission agent Neville Clements during a Flemington race meeting on January 1.
Stewards have asked Nikolic, 35, to attend an inquiry into the charges on Thursday.
Nikolic said last night he would do everything in his power to clear his name after weeks of innuendo. ''This whole thing has really hurt me, as a lot of the mud has stuck,'' he said.
''I've got two rides tomorrow [at Caulfield] on a big day of racing and I haven't ridden trackwork for the last three days, as there's been a real stigma attached to all the rumour and innuendo.
''It's not fair and I'm not going to take it. I will fight it to the end. Neville Clements does form for me and I rang him on that day to ask him about the tempo of a race. It was a 12 to 15-second phone call that I made away from the jockeys' room.''