ONE of the North's top jockeys was arrested yesterday in connection with an ongoing police probe into alleged horse race fixing.

Robert Winston was held near York and became the 26th person to be held in the City of London police inquiry.

Jockeys' agent Richard Hale said: "I rang him this morning about something else and he said the police had been to arrest him.

"Robert stayed somewhere else last night and arrived home to find they had left the arrest warrant. He said he would be back in touch, but I haven't heard from him yet."

Winston, who is not racing at the moment because he has tonsillitis, lives near York. The Irishman was champion apprentice in 1999.

He is expected to be questioned over connections with Miles Rodgers, formerly a director of the Platinum Racing Club syndicate.

At Redcar, on October 28, 2003, he was riding the syndicate's horse, Uhoomagoo, which drifted from 11-2 to 9-1 and came in 12th.

In March last year, Rodgers was warned off for two years by the Jockey Club after he was found guilty of having backed Uhoomagoo to lose in the Redcar race.

He was also found to have backed another of the syndicate's horses, Million Percent, to lose at Wolverhampton two weeks later. The bets were laid on the Internet betting exchange Betfair, the Jockey Club concluded.

Rodgers has described the Jockey Club ruling as "a travesty" and denies wrongdoing.

Twenty-five people have already been arrested and bailed, including former champion jockey Kieren Fallon, trainer Karl Burke, based at Middleham, North Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire-based jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams.

During the investigation into alleged race-fixing, more than 130 police officers have raided 19 addresses across North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Wilmott, heading the police investigation, said: ''This is a very involved and complex investigation which has taken time to unravel.

''We anticipate that there may be more arrests to follow.''