'No evidence' of systemic fixing in Victoria racing

Victoria's Racing Integrity Commissioner says he has found no evidence of systemic race fixing in the thoroughbred, harness or greyhound industries.

Commissioner Sal Perna launched an inquiry into allegations that top jockeys and industry figures were involved in money laundering, tax fraud and the release of inside information to punters.

After a probe into 30 races, Perna has released a report saying there was no evidence of race fixing, but he has listed 11 recommendations to improve integrity and public confidence in the industry.

Perna said that while current evidence did not show race fixing was a systemic issue, recent incidents provided an opportunity to meet a range of challenges in the industry, stating "the public confidence in integrity in racing has been damaged.

"The time is right for cultural, organisational and legislative change to restore that confidence and ensure that Victoria can rightly be proud to claim the mantle as the leading racing state and sporting capital of the country."

In Victoria during 2011-12, there were 4,355 races involving 42,919 starters, yet neither police nor racing officials have substantiated any allegations of race fixing to date.

However, Perna said additional powers or further information might change his view.

"While I have seen a great deal of excellent work undertaken by the racing controlling bodies and other key stakeholders, much has been reactive to identified shortcomings and has only scratched the surface." he said.

Perna said the current powers of the IRC were inadequate to address the current needs of the industry but called for a change in culture, saying jockeys betting on races was widely known within the industry and undermined public confidence.

He recommended betting by jockeys be made a serious offence and called for a specialised police unit to deal with criminal activity within all three race codes.

Victorian Racing Minister Denis Napthine says the inquiry's findings are important for the state's $2 billion racing industry and for those who bet on Victorian races, stating "Victoria has the very best racing in Australia, if not the world, and we have good racing integrity measures."

Minister Napthine says the Victorian Government has invested $4 million in improving drug testing procedures in racing animals, helped upgrade stewards' racecourse facilities, and recently asked the Racing Integrity Commissioner to conduct a review of Racing Victoria's handling of the Damien Oliver betting inquiry, stating "we will now work with relevant law enforcement agencies, the Federal Government, the three racing codes and other racing stakeholders to further enhance racing integrity in Victoria."

Dr Napthine said recommendation 11 would result in significant change in Victorian racing integrity systems.

Under this recommendation, the racing integrity departments of each of the three codes would be brought together into one statutory agency.

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