It's not just horse racing where investigations are launched after gambles.

Last Sunday, Huntingdon staged a Charity Fun Even involving 100 contestants from around the UK and overseas, all dressed in mascot outfits. Bookies took bets on 55 of the runners, which was won by Freddie The Fox, backed from 33-1 to 10-1.

It turned out that Freddie The Fox was 24-year-old Olympic athlete Matt Douglas, who represented Britain at the Sydney Olympics, where he finished sixth in the 400m hurdle semi-final.

He was later disqualified after organisers apologised for running the event. All money taken on him by bookies who did not pay out, will be given to charity.

Elsewhere, Dean McKeown and Patrick Haslam found themselves in hot water at Newcastle this week when they were found guilty of schooling in public.

McKeown received a seven-day ban for his ride on Wensley Blue, while Haslam was fined £1,000 and Wensley Blue was banned from racing for 40 days. I do feel that the stewards should have noticed that this horse was extremely unruly in the paddock and McKeown worked wonders to get him on to the track. In his previous two runs he has also hung badly.

I do feel that the stewards should have taken this into account and congratulated McKeown for riding this giant of a horse so well instead of cautioning him. It again shows how little they know.

Meanwhile, Kieren Fallon was lucky at Brighton this weekend when his mount was attacked by a dog near the starting stalls.

The race was delayed for half an hour while the dog was caught. This shows that racecourse security is not adequate and I feel that all racecourses should have high fencing around them.

Fallon and Dodona were luckily both uninjured, but it could easily have been very nasty.

Moreover, we had expected to have a runner at Hexham on Friday, but government agency DEFRA decided at the last minute to scrap the meeting because of foot-and-mouth. The decision is a disgrace and could have been taken earlier in the week.

Possibly Tony Blair should take another look at the seriousness of foot-and-mouth and try harder to sort his own back garden out instead of trying to become World Leader.

Column Published: 06/10/01