BBC refute duping accusation

The makers of the BBC programme Kenyon Confronts have today refuted suggestions that they have duped trainers into making incriminating comments during the course of their investigations into racing in Britain.

The National Trainers Federation yesterday revealed that Ferdy Murphy, David Wintle, Dudley Moffatt and Jamie Osbourne were all seeking legal advice after being accused of breaching Jockey Club rules by reporters from the programme.

The NTF accused the BBC of using selective sections of secretly recorded conversations in order to suggest that the four trainers had broken the rules in some way. They also claimed that the programme is to be based on how handicap marks are gained and how you can make money gambling.

But Paul Woolwich, executive producer of Kenyon Confronts, denies that their team has used any underhand methods when conducting their enquiries and revealed that the exact content of the programme is yet to be finalised.

He said: 'The programme is still being edited. We are in the process of making this programme so I don`t know how the NTF say that it`s going to be based on the issues that they have mentioned. How could they possibly know that? I have not seen the finished programme yet.

'We did secretly record a number of trainers but they were quite open without being entrapped and they suggested that we could make some money on a horse that they would train.

'Some of these things may be viewed as gamesmanship and that may be but in racing all these horses are running in races where punters are betting their money,' he continued.

'If I knew how the horse was going to run under the orders of the trainer I probably wouldn`t want to put my money on them either.

'The first rule of racing states that all horse should be run on their merits and be ridden to be given the best possible chance of winning or obtaining the best possible place.

'What we are showing is some of the practices used in racing that we would consider as laymen and punters to be infringing the rules.'

Woolwich also denied that they were planning to use what the NTF described as 'isolated remarks' to back up their story.

'We have lengthy conversations taped over several months where they slowly, as they became more friendly, began to explain how they could do it. These are not taken out of context,' the executive producer explained.

'We have very strict guidelines and it has to be proven to be in the public interest before we show anything. There has been no sculduggery as has been suggested.

'Both the Jockey Club and the NTF seem more concerned with the way we are conducting the investigation rather than what it may or may not turn up.

'What we have been trying to do is make a programme which will be in the public interest.

'The NTF and the Jockey Club seem more interested in closing ranks behind the trainers and jockeys without knowing what we are going to say and trying to damage the messenger.

'What we are goingto show is how the rules can and are being flouted.

'I think some of the things will be an eye opener for punters as they might not know everything goes on. The programme is about non performing not race fixing.'

Woolwich also revealed that both the Jockey Club and NTF have declined invitations to put their side of the issue forward on the Kenyon Confronts programme.