On the day the "Sport of Kings" was rocked by 16 arrests in a nationwide race-fixing investigation, Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson joined punters in the sunshine on the Knavesmire at York and asked: Are we all being taken for a ride?

ROYAL Distant was more than ten lengths away when Eboracum cruised past the post to win the opening race at York yesterday.

But that was good compared to her jockey, because he was separated from the winner by more than 200 miles.

Kieren Fallon should have been partnering the well-fancied Royal Distant in the Patrington Haven Leisure Park Stakes but, instead, he was in Bury St Edmunds police station on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

The Queen is a keen racing fan but, for England's champion jockey, being detained at Her Majesty's pleasure had nothing to do with receiving instructions for a royal mount.

Instead, Fallon was one of 16 men arrested yesterday as part of police investigations into a race-fixing scandal that threatens to undermine the integrity of British horse racing.

Police are investigating 80 races over the past two years they suspect may have been corrupt and another two jockeys, Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, were also forced to miss yesterday's action at York because of their inquiries.

Royal Distant didn't know anything about the accusations that were engulfing her sport, but the eyes of the racing world were still trained on her as Fallon's replacement, Terry Lucas, failed to keep her in touch with the leaders two furlongs from home.

The eyes of a big York crowd were focused in her direction as well, although some knew rather more about her new-found fame than others.

Carol-Ann Jones was representative of about half of the crowd packed on to a sun-kissed Knavesmire.

The receptionist, from Leeds, was part of a works trip that make one journey to York every year and, to her, Fallon might as well have been the name of the horse her £1.50 was going on in race one.

"When you come to the races you see that it's much more of a social thing," she said. "I heard on the news about some jockey being arrested, but I can't say it registered.

"I don't come here expecting to win money so I couldn't really care what goes on behind the scenes."

York racecourse wants to attract more people such as Carol-Ann, but her impact on horse racing as a whole is negligible.

People like Simon Harrison are more important, a racing fan from Stockton, who attends up to 30 meetings in Yorkshire every year.

He knows the ins and outs of the Fallon saga, and revealed that it had already had an impact on his betting habits.

"I would have backed Royal Distant if Kieren had been on it," he said. "But I didn't because I don't know anything about the guy they've brought in to replace him. I suppose that's £10 that's in my pocket instead of the bookmaker's.

"A lot of people follow Fallon and I think they'll have been disappointed not to have seen him today.

"He's one of the sport's big stars."

Fallon's absence could have caused embarrassment to the racing authorities, so they simply ignored it.

His name was still in the racecard, but no explanation was given for the multiple jockey changes throughout the afternoon.

Kevin Darley replaced him on board Red Bloom but, when the three-year-old won the big race of the day, his post-race interview gave no hint as to why he had suddenly clambered aboard the winner.

Bookmakers stand to lose the most if the public lose faith in the sport because of the latest allegations, but York's legion of layers seem to want an honesty and openness that has not always been there in the past.

"Things like this are bound to be bad for public confidence," admitted Paul Johnson, a Doncaster bookmaker who stands at racecourses throughout Yorkshire.

"But it is possible to turn a negative into a positive.

"Look at the Olympics. They are cleaning themselves up and every positive drug test is seen as a signal that the sports are getting cleaner and cleaner.

"Racing doesn't seem to think like that - they try to sweep things under the carpet and it doesn't work."