Exchanges hit by Fallon storm

He said: "The dangers of anyone being able to back a horse to lose are there for all to see but exchanges are here to stay and the question is how we police them.

"Clearly, now is the time for the Jockey Club's new security chief, Paul Scotney, to find the paper trail and telephone records which would help establish whether corruption has occurred. It is fair to say a purging is taking place, but when it gets this serious you have to wonder how much more the sport can take."

Fallon strongarmed his way through a posse of paparazzi at Stansted airport yesterday but will find it much harder to brush off allegations that he has brought racing into serious disrepute.

Berry and O'Sullivan face long bans from racing and possible criminal charges if found guilty of laying Hillside Girl to lose at Carlisle last summer, while journeyman jump jockey Sean Fox added further fuel to the exchange debate at Fontwell yesterday when handed a 21-day ban for "stepping off " a chaser who had taken an alarming walk in the betting.

Exchanges continue to insist that they are exposing sharp practice as opposed to helping it flourish, but the fact that generous odds were available about Fox's mount Ice Saint right up until the moment he parted company with the gelding could lead to a review of Betfair's lucrative markets. William Hill spokesman David Hood has long warned of the dangers posed by exchanges and said: "racing will crumble if they continue to go unchecked."

He added: "People say that bookmakers will always bleat about exchanges, but our business has never been healthier. The simple fact is that people will no longer want to bet if they feel the game isn't straight. I defy anyone to say that racing is straighter since the advent of exchanges and until people take their heads from the sand the sport and the industry will continue to suffer."

Amid all the rumours, it should come as no surprise that racing's spin doctors have been hard at work.

Sources close to the Berry case suggest that news of the inquiry was due to be released during next week's Cheltenham Festival in order to minimise the impact of negative publicity.

The furore over the Fallon affair prompted an early release of the news. Sadly, it seems that further damaging allegations could be on the way before the week is much older.