Fergal Lynch, a jockey as familiar to punters for his chequered past as he is for his impressive recent form, continued his surge towards the top 20 in the Flat jockeys’ championship when he rode four of the first five winners at Hamilton on Monday.
It remains something of an embarrassment for the British Horseracing Authority that Lynch still has a riding career at all, since he is one of the few jockeys in recent years to have been shown beyond any doubt to have deliberately stopped one of his mounts.
In August 2004, Lynch was recorded by City of London Police, which was investigating possible corruption in racing, discussing a ride at Ripon on a horse called Bond City with Miles Rodgers, a gambler and former owner who was later banned from racing for life. Lynch, who was aware that Rodgers had laid the well-backed 9-2 chance on the betting exchange, admitted that his stopping ride “cost me a winner”.
The police investigation resulted in a major trial at the Old Bailey which collapsed once the prosecution had finished presenting its case. Lynch, however, was charged with corruption offences by the BHA on the basis of the evidence gathered, but received only a £50,000 fine as part of a “plea bargain” rather than the long and probably career-ending ban that would be the case now.
Lynch continued his riding career in the US, France and Ireland, and 10 years later, in August 2014, the BHA agreed to allow him to ride in Britain on an overseas licence. Lynch took part in a BHA educational video aimed at preventing young jockeys becoming involved in corruption as part of the agreement to let him ride.
Lynch’s talent as a jockey was never in doubt, and the early seasons of his career included a win in the Ebor Handicap at York in 1996 when he was just 18 years of age. He has made the most of his second chance, and recently recorded his first ever success at the highest level when Mondialiste, the trainer David O’Meara’s first runner in North America, took the Grade One Woodbine Mile in Toronto.
He currently intends to return to the US during the winter as well as heading out to Dubai. He told Racing UK: “I won’t be riding on the all-weather. Medrano is going to Dubai so I hope to be at the Carnival at some stage and I’ll be going back to America riding work and hopefully in races when the opportunities are there.”
His four-timer took Lynch to 49 wins in the current Flat jockeys’ championship, the same number as Frankie Dettori and just behind Franny Norton and Graham Gibbons, in 19th and 20th places in the title race with 50 winners apiece.
Tikthebox (11-4), in the opening nursery handicap, was the only one of Lynch’s four winners to start as favourite. He then steered Raise A Billion (7-1), Celtic Power (10-1) and Hero’s Story (7-2) to victory at accumulated odds of 1,484-1.
Robert Thornton, one of the country’s leading jump jockeys for nearly 20 years, has been forced to announce his retirement from the saddle after failing to recover fully from injuries sustained in a fall at Chepstow in April 2014.
Thornton, who was the leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival in 2007 when his winners included My Way De Solzen in the Arkle Trophy and Katchit in the Triumph Hurdle, had not ridden since suffering fractured vertebrae in the fall from Say When in a novice hurdle. His other big-race wins included the Champion Hurdle on Katchit in 2008 and the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Voy Por Ustedes in 2007. The jockey said in a statement: “Whilst I’ve always hoped to return, following recent specialist reports and having met with Dr Hill from the BHA, due to ongoing issues with my neck and upper limbs I have no choice but to retire.”
