Willie Mullins’ vet Timothy Brennan cleared in investigation into lay bets of Faugheen at the Cheltenham Festival
WILLIE MULLINS' vet was today cleared by a panel investigating suspicious lay bets placed on Faugheen.
Timothy Brennan was accused of passing on inside information on the horse which he treated after bets were placed on Betfair.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) alleged that Mullins' principal vet passed on information to his brother, Michael Brennan, in relation to an injury Faugheen had.
The inquiry heard how the brother placed a series of lay bets totalling just over €2000, in which he stood to win €3,342.
Two days after the bets were layed against Faugheen, Willie Mullins declared the odds-on favourite a non-runner for the Cheltenham Festival.
But the vet was cleared by an independent panel after a two-day hearing at the BHA headquarters in London.
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The panel concluded: "It has not been proved to the appropriate standard that Timothy Brennan was the source of any confidential information to his brother."
The panel also decided that there were, on the evidence, a number of other realistic possibilities for the source of any such information and that Timothy Brennan was a creditable witness who cooperated throughout the investigation.
They also defended the BHA and said the authority were right to instigate an enquiry into the incident.
The panel are set to release a more detailed explanation of their results and the BHA were reluctant to comment in detail themselves until they had seen this.
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However, they did say that had Timothy Brennan's brother given evidence to the hearing, the result of the investigation may have been quicker.
In a statement they said: "Had we had co-operation from the key witness in the case, Timothy Brennan’s brother, this matter might have been resolved much sooner.
"Notwithstanding, it was important to set the evidence in front of an independent Panel.
"We await the independent Panel’s full written findings before we can comment further on the detail of this case, including the issue of jurisdiction which the Panel examined."
Commenting at the conclusion of the case, the BHA’s Head of Regulation Tim Naylor said: “Mr Brennan was subject to a fair hearing in front of an independent Disciplinary Panel.
"There was evidence which required examination, as the Panel has recognised, and we note their finding that the BHA acted reasonably.
"We will continue to charge potential breaches of the Rules of Racing in order to protect the integrity of our sport.”