Sixth jockey arrested over race-fixing

The countdown to the Cheltenham Festival was interrupted by the City of London police today when jockey Gyles Parkin was arrested in the ongoing investigation into race-fixing.

A knock on the door at his home near Malton early this morning provided a rude awakening for the journeyman rider, who had planned to enjoy the day celebrating his 32nd birthday but instead spent it in a nearby police station being questioned over his role in an ever widening probe into alleged corruption involving betting exchanges.

Parkin, who enjoyed something of a revival with 11 winners from 177 rides last year and is recently back from a holiday in Dubai, joins Kieren Fallon, Robert Winston, Fergal Lynch, Paul Bradley and Darren Williams as one of six riders to be arrested in the probe.

Trainers Karl Burke and Alan Berry are also among a total of 27 people under investigation, but Jockeys' Association chief executive John Blake feels it would be unwise for people to draw any conclusions while the inquiry is still ongoing.

"The net seems to be spreading ever more widely, which suggest that we either have a massive case on our hands or that the police are investigating on a very broad basis and piecing together information without charging the people involved," he said.

Meanwhile, AP McCoy has lost one of his best Cheltenham mounts with the news that Foreman has been ruled out of the Arkle Chase.