McKeown & Blockley

G

Guest_

At the Start
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
14,178
Location
Ireland
Graham Green​


DEAN McKEOWN claimed his riding career was effectively finished after the veteran jockey was disqualified for four years at the end of the BHA's latest corruption inquiry on Thursday.

McKeown was found guilty of conspiracy over the laying of 11 Paul Blockley-trained horses between March 2004 and December 2005. He was also found in breach of the non-trier rule in four of the races.

Blockley was given a two-and-a-half year ban while of the others involved, Nottinghamshire-based owner, Clive Whiting, a friend of McKeown's, was disqualified for eight years and former owner, David Wright, disqualified for six years.

Asked for his reaction on leaving the hearing, Blockley said he "needed time".

McKeown was not at the hearing. He rode in the first race at Great Leighs' evening meeting on Thursday, finishing fourth on the 7-2 shot Well Informed.

Speaking afterwards, he said he was surprised and shocked to hear the severity of the sentence.

"I will be 52 if I came back and even if you're young it's still going to be tough to come back," McKeown added.

"Effectively it is the end of my career and it is a sad way to end, especially when you're not guilty of anything.

"They had no evidence on me."

Blockley and McKeown were found guilty of breaching rule 201 (v) in that they conspired with other persons to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice.

The Lambourn handler was also found guilty of breaking rule 155(ii) in that he failed to give or cause to be given to McKeown such instructions as were necessary to ensure Hits Only Money ran on its merits at Wolverhampton in December 2005.

McKeown was judged by the BHA disciplinary panel to have breached rule 157 in that he intentionally failed to ensure that Only If I Laugh, Smith N Allan Oils, Hits Only Cash and Hits Only Money ran on their merits in races between June 2004 and December 2005.

Whiting has also been found in breach of rule 201(v) and 220(vii)(b) in that he misled BHA investigators.

Along with Whiting and Wright, owners David Lovatt and Martyn Wakefield,Whiting's brother Vincent, former owner Marcus Reeder and Nicholas Rook have all been found guilty of breaching rule 201(v).

Vincent Whiting was excluded for four years, Rook excluded for six years, Reeder disqualified for 18 months, and Wakefield disqualified for 18 months. Lovatt was fined £20,000.

All parties have seven days to appeal from receipt of the panel's written reasons for the penalties.
 
Maybe Dean can link up with his bro on ATR to form an awesome tipping double act?
 
Fantastic news on the punishments, glad to see the BHA have really thrown the book at them for once after some pathetic punishments in recent years. I'd prefer to see Blockley banned for longer though given his track record.

Some of McKeown's comments in this mornings RP are ridiculous, you've been found guilty Dean, calling the BHA like Mugabe's Zimbabwe etc is hardly helping your situation.

I just hope that the BHA press on taking action against more non triers and investigating more significant drifters as it happens nearly day in day out to some extent.
 
Can I suggest a degree of caution over things posted on this thread.

I'm sure we all have our own views of the characters involved in this business but just think a little before you post.
 
Looks like McKeown will go to the High Court. Am I right in thinking he did not have representation this time due to the costs involved?

I think the BHA were desperate to make an example of somebody and PB and DM were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lets face it, they gained £60k over 11 races from laying rags (presumably to place). Their real crime of course is conspiracy.

Is it not a conspiracy then when a top Newmarket yard deliberately run Arab et al owned maidens down the field to get a decent mark in order to have a right old punt on handicap debut? Are the betting public not being "defrauded" then, espeically given these yards are often followed blind by small stakes punters up and down the country, and their horses usually attract market support (whether or not warranted)? Or does being the Queen's trainer mean you are above the law?

I personally feel very sorry fo McKeown espeically - Blockey can get someone else to hold the licence and will be back in a couple of years. McKeown's livelihood is finished - and he has a wife and kids to feed. If he is guilty yes, he should be punished but is finishing his career fair compared with the level of the fraud.
 
How can anyone possibly feel sorry for Dean McKeown? He should have been warned off years ago (he's admitted at least one deliberate non trying offence before) and his name is an the biggest in-joke around to every serious punter in the country.
 
They just showed the races on ATR, very good of them in my opinion.

The rides are utterly shocking!
 
Absolutely, Rory - spot on.

Mind you #6 makes a good point that Blockley is almost guaranteed to carry on with the licence held in the name of his yard cat, or someone. It's shocking how many trainers get away with doing so, I could name at least three trainers straight up who have done so in the past having been warned off and got away with it merrily.
 
Agree with Shadow Leader - the ridiculous situation of McEntee leading round horses at Kempton that he used to train when in the care of Michael Wigham when his training licence had been taken away should have been highly embarrasing to the BHA.
 
numbersix said:
I personally feel very sorry fo McKeown...
Click to expand...

If this is not tongue-in-cheek, then it is the most ridiculous comment I have ever seen posted on here (and I was around when Phil "Swirly Chaser" Waters was at large!).

Colin - they have been found guilty, so we don't have to be that careful about what we post. Blockley and McKeown are cheats and that's that.

What still annoys me is that that s*it McKeown still refuses to admit it. For him to say; "there is literally no evidence" is the equivalent of him spitting in the face of the innocent punters that he and his gang stole money from. There was evidence and plenty of it, you lying little cheat.

Finally, is there any chance of this crowd being brought to justice in a criminal court? Weren't Fallon, Rodgers et al charged with; "conspiracy to defraud Betfair customers" (or something similar)? What is different about this case?
 
davidjohnson said:
Agree with Shadow Leader - the ridiculous situation of McEntee leading round horses at Kempton that he used to train when in the care of Michael Wigham when his training licence had been taken away should have been highly embarrasing to the BHA.
Click to expand...

Strangely enough, McEntee was a name close to the top of the people I was thinking about.....
 
Relkeel said:
Finally, is there any chance of this crowd being brought to justice in a criminal court? Weren't Fallon, Rodgers et al charged with; "conspiracy to defraud Betfair customers" (or something similar)? What is different about this case?
Click to expand...

Yes and not the first case of double standards we've had this week.
 
Relkeel said:
If this is not tongue-in-cheek, then it is the most ridiculous comment I have ever seen posted on here (and I was around when Phil "Swirly Chaser" Waters was at large!).
Click to expand...

I wasn't being tongue in cheek at all. It is possible to feel pity for a man who has lost his livelihood, and the main income stream that provides for his wife and children. Yes, if after appeal (possibly in the High Court) he remains guilty then one can conclude he has only himself to blame. However it is still possible to feel sorry for the man, provided one has adequate levels of compassion.

I still feel the punishment totally ooutweighs the crime, and he has clearly been scapegoated precisely because of the high profile cases the BHA made complete pigs ears of.

I would also reiterate that over the 11 races in quesiton £60k was alleged to have been made. So that equates to £5,545 per race. As I write the next race at Fakenham has a market of £162k - so using this as a rough guide per race the conspirators were taking 3.4% of the market - hardly huge amounts, and when this was diluted down to a per capita amount we are hardly talking about any punter being seriously "robbed". The horses in question were rags for the most part, and I would argue the biggest single bet on any of them to win would have been fairly small.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying it is right to defraud at any level. However is four years a fair period of sentence considering what the big trainers get away with on a daily basis, running maidens down fields to plot up a handicap coup? Is that not a conspiracy? Is that not defrauding the "poor" punter.

For whatever reason McKeown seems to be hated on most forums. I wouldn't say he is my favourite jockey of all time, but he has done me some favours over the years, especially when he was riding for Mark Johnston.
 
Spot on about McEntee David,ironic that since getting his licence back he has had the sum total of 0 winners.
 
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying it is right to defraud at any level. However is four years a fair period of sentence considering what the big trainers get away with on a daily basis, running maidens down fields to plot up a handicap coup? Is that not a conspiracy? Is that not defrauding the "poor" punter.
Click to expand...

While I don't have any sympathy for the little bollix, I an inclined to agree with your point that they took out their frustrations on him after their last cock -up. I also agree that some big trainers routinely break the rules in the manner you have described without fear of any consequences.
 
numbersix said:
I wasn't being tongue in cheek at all. It is possible to feel pity for a man who has lost his livelihood, and the main income stream that provides for his wife and children. Yes, if after appeal (possibly in the High Court) he remains guilty then one can conclude he has only himself to blame. However it is still possible to feel sorry for the man, provided one has adequate levels of compassion.

I still feel the punishment totally ooutweighs the crime, and he has clearly been scapegoated precisely because of the high profile cases the BHA made complete pigs ears of.
Click to expand...

Ok, so what about Brad? He was the ultimate scapegoat and has had his career and livelihood ruined with a severe ban the likes that hasn't been seen for such matters, yet that's ok.

When it comes to poor 'ickle McKeown, being dished out one of the BHA's joke 18 month/2,3,4 year slaps across the knuckle that's hard done by though? McKeown has been pulling horses for years and this is't the first time he's been found guilty of it.

Some kind of parity in punishments meted out for similar crimes and the amounts of cases found guilty, as well as less of the targetting a small handful of people so the BHA could make it look like they are doing their job, would be preferential.
 
Last edited:
I told a friend of mine with very close connections to Philadelphia Park that Fergal Lynch was riding there - he's (allegedly) bent, her reply "he'll fit in well with the others then" - this from someone who seldom bets and knows nothing of off course betting.

The industry is corrupt and always will be, however keeping the likes of McKeown and Blockley out of the industry will help clean it up.
 
Shadow Leader said:
Ok, so what about Brad? He was the ultimate scapegoat and has had his career and livelihood ruined with a severe ban the likes that hasn't been seen for such matters, yet that's ok.
Click to expand...

This debate was about McKeown and Blockley. Because I have not mentioned in this thread every jockey banned in the history of the sport does not mean that I am tacitly approving of their punishment.

As it happens Graham Bradley happens to be one of my heroes, and I had the privilege of chatting to him about some of his great rides when he signed my copy of his autobiography at Kempton (in particular Merry Gale at Aintree - genius!). Bradley's stylish manner in the saddle has informed the styles of some of my current heroes in the saddle such as Timmy Murphy, Denis O'Regan, Graham Lee ,Barry Geraghty and Paddy Brennan.

I think what people who jumped to vilify Bradley failed to appreciate was he was in deep with an extremely dangerous gangster who had a global network of illegal businesses. I am sure most people would find it hard to say "no" to a man who's measures reserved for uncoperative associates do not bear thinking about.

By the way did anyone read that absolute sh*te by Matt Williams wrote in reference to Denis O'Regan's ride on Astarador yesterday? Bitter pocket talk in the extreme; the words of a man who has totally lost the plot. Thankfully nobody takes the hapless "mickey mouse" idiot seriously anymore.

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/news/ma...ipsters&category=Trading Post&story_id=825095
 
numbersix said:
By the way did anyone read that absolute sh*te by Matt Williams wrote in reference to Denis O'Regan's ride on Astarador yesterday? Bitter pocket talk in the extreme; the words of a man who has totally lost the plot. Thankfully nobody takes the hapless "mickey mouse" idiot seriously anymore.

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/news/ma...ipsters&category=Trading Post&story_id=825095
Click to expand...
What he wrote about Denis O'Regan is subjective, which he points out, and I'd tend to disagree, but it's a lot less bitter than the paragraph you have written about him.
 
That's not an attempt to pick a fight by the way ~ just my way of pointing out that we do naturally tend to take sides in such matters, but at the same time we can be critical of others lack of objectivity, which is an inconsistent standpoint.
 
This trainer and jockey have been hit hard because by the time the BHA or whoever finally 'got' them, they had probably been trying for years - I bet there are files several feet high at BHA HQ and going back a long time. You can be damn sure 'previous' and 'reputation' have been taken into account here, as well the pathetic little scams they have been found guilty of - and quite right too. Blockley has a wife and two kids as well, very pleasant looking... I feel sorry for the families, esp the kids, but not the perpetrators.

Playing the handicap game if you are clever enough is NOT cheating ffs. It's up to any punter to research a horse's pedigree and a trainer's record with eg ftos, first time handicappers etc. Stopping horses when laying them is a totally different ball game.
 
Last edited:
Horses running on their merits and to the best of their ability, anyone?? So long they are running on their merits and to the best of their ability when getting 'handicapped' then no, it's not cheating. There's a very fine line, though.
 
Back
Top