Leading Irish flat jockey Eddie Ahern has been banned for ten years for 10 years by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for a number of breaches of their anti-corruption rules.
Ahern was found to have deliberately prevented the horse Judgethemoment from running on its merits in a two-mile handicap at Lingfield on 21 January 2011. Ahern set a furious pace on Judgethemoment, "what one would expect in a six- or seven-furlong race" in the eyes of the panel, and then dropped back through the field from halfway.
Former West Brom footballer and racehorse owner Neil Clement was also banned from for 15 years and three moths from horse racing for acting on information from Ahern to lay bets against his horses on the Betfair betting exchange.
Clement's phone records showed frequent contacts with Ahern and he was found to have placed a number of "lay" bets against Judgethemoment, including a spread bet which risked a maximum loss of £41,500 in order to win £8,500. Clement was also found to have laid four more horses ridden by Ahern on the basis of inside information received from the jockey.
