Christopher Spence, senior steward of the Jockey Club, has responded to last night's Panorama programme `The Corruption of Racing' and has referred to the production as "flawed". Roger Buffham, the former head of security at the Jockey Club, claimed in the BBC documentary programme that horseracing is "institutionally corrupt" and that "a whole generation of National Hunt jockeys had close links to organised crime".
Panorama's other principal witness was the warned-off former jump jockey Dermot Browne. Spence, said: "Although skilfully put together, in my view the Panorama programme was flawed as a result of its over reliance on discredited witnesses with their own agendas. Furthermore, it was not made clear enough to the viewers that much of the material analysed related to incidents which took place between five and 15 years ago, well before many new measures were introduced to protect racing's integrity and deter corruption," Spence added.
Jockey Club public relations director John Maxse claims that Buffham has an axe to grind and insists the Jockey Club has already taken action to tighten up its regulations.
Michael Caulfield, chief executive of the Jockeys Association of Great Britain, has issued a robust defence of the country's riders in the light of last night's expose. Caulfield dismissed the allegations made against the integrity of some jockeys as "grossly unfair" and believes the assertions are "simply not true".
Filed by Laura Reynolds
