BHA: Carter retraction over 'clearest of stopping rides' is a lie

Adam Carter's claims that a "brainfade" was to blame for the ride he gave Blazeofenchantment and that he had been "brainwashed" into saying he was ordered to stop the horse were lies, a BHA disciplinary inquiry was told on Wednesday.

Louis Weston, the barrister representing the BHA, said the regulator's case against trainer John Wainwright and John Wright, an unlicenced individual, depended on the panel accepting former jockey Carter's evidence given in a second interview that he had been told to stop the horse at Southwell in June 2014.

He said the former jockey behaved in an unexpected way by retracting that version when he appeared in London on Tuesday but there was no bar to the panel reaching the decision that the defendants were guilty.

'No other account is credible'

Weston argued the stopping account was "the only account that is consistent when tested against the body of evidence". In his final submission, he added: "No other account is remotely credible."

Malton trainer Wainwright, Wright, a professional gambler from Carlisle, and Carter are charged with conspiring to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice over the running and riding of Blazeofenchantment, who finished seventh of nine in a race at Southwell in June 2014. Wainwright and Wright deny the charges.

Also charged are stable employee Paul Bradley and Peter Bennett, who, like Wright, is not registered or licensed. They are alleged to have known of the conspiracy and used the inside information received from Carter to gain an advantage on the betting markets. Neither has attended the hearing.

Weston said Blazeofenchantment had been given "the clearest of stopping rides" by Carter, who had now returned to the account given at his first interview that because of rows with his girlfriend that resulted in two nights in police cells, he was so distracted he missed the break on the horse.

Adam Carter: gave Blazeofenchantment 'the clearest of stopping rides'Credit: John Grossick

"The brainfade account is an obvious late reinvention of a false account," Weston said. "Carter is lying but is now trying to row back some of the truths he had previously given."

The panel was told the betting evidence was compelling. Carter called Bradley and told him he would give the horse a stopping ride, and Bradley in turn called Bennett, who laid the horse. However, there was no direct communication between them and Geoff Marsden, a gambler whose suspicious lay activity had triggered the investigation.

Weston told the panel that Marsden was an associate of professional gambler Jason Parkin, who was in contact with Wainwright and Wright and known by Carter. Marsden had not cooperated with the investigation and been excluded.

Earlier Wright, a former racecourse bookmaker whose John Malcolm pitches are now operated by his wife Angela, said he backed horses for himself or on behalf of others using friends or agents, including his son Paul Noble, to get the bets on in betting shops, but was not a layer.

Contradictory evidence

He said he had met Wainwright only a few times and had no idea who Carter was. He also claimed he had stopped using Betfair after it introduced a premium charge and had no recollection of backing Blazeofenchantment.

However, he admitted finding out that Noble had laid Blazeofenchantment for £160 using a Betfair account held in his mother Karen's name, with Wright's house as the username.

"My son was running that account," said Wright. "He told me about the bet after I was interviewed. I didn't know about it at the time."

Weston said Wright had given contradictory evidence through his unexpected admission. "He chose until today to conceal knowing his son's betting," he said. "He knows the significance of the bet. This is a man who has at least two betting accounts in someone else's name."

He said the fact Wainwright's son Ben had put £20 each-way on Blazeofenchantment was "no silver defence".

"If he wished the horse to win you would expect him to jock up someone who would give it a good ride, but he did the opposite," said Weston.

"Of all the jockeys in all the world he chose Carter. Why put an out-of-sorts jockey on a horse? No sensible owner or trainer would put up a jockey with all the problems he had."

The hearing continues.