ALMOST four months after investigations began into a number of Dan Nikolic's beaten rides, Victorian racing stewards will today release the charges, if any, the jockey will have to answer, reports The Age.It adds: In one of the most drawn-out and controversial probes in Victorian racing, stewards have reviewed many of Nikolic's beaten rides since last October after unusual betting patterns were discovered on some of the horses he had ridden. Nikolic, 35, who has continually pleaded his innocence
ALMOST four months after investigations began into a number of Dan Nikolic's beaten rides, Victorian racing stewards will today release the charges, if any, the jockey will have to answer, reports The Age.
It adds: In one of the most drawn-out and controversial probes in Victorian racing, stewards have reviewed many of Nikolic's beaten rides since last October after unusual betting patterns were discovered on some of the horses he had ridden. Nikolic, 35, who has continually pleaded his innocence over any wrongdoing, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The investigation is believed to have been launched after betting exchange Betfair reported to stewards that abnormally large bets had been placed against some of Nikolic's mounts.
Since that time in January, the probe has already claimed the career of professional punter and former bookmaker Neville Clements, who an inquiry heard was a friend of Nikolic's and would talk often on the phone with the jockey.
In March, Clements, 59, was banned indefinitely from all Victorian racecourses after refusing to provide stewards with his mobile phone records, and last month Queensland racing authorities applied the same sanction for his failure to assist an inquiry in that state. Nikolic has already been fined $5000 by the RAD Board after he refused to hand over his mobile phone to stewards so his contacts could be checked.