Aussie professional punter to appeal ban

[dave nz]

PROFESSIONAL punter Neville Clements will appeal against an indefinite ban from Victorian racecourses.

Clements said he would take his case to VCAT after he was warned off indefinitely following his refusal to comply with a Racing Victoria stewards' directive that he provide them with five months of his mobile phone records.

The 59-year-old, a former Bookmaker, made no further comment. Clements' account with betting exchange Betfair has been frozen.

Last week Queensland Racing stewards asked Clements to show cause why he should not be banned from racecourses at an unrelated inquiry into a horse trained by leading jockey Danny Nikolic's brother, John.

Clements refused to give Queensland stewards his complete mobile records.

RADB acting chairman Brian Forrest said a written statement outlining the reasons for the decision would be delivered to Clements within seven days.

Dr Cliff Pannam, QC, for RVL stewards, asked the RADB to impose a lifetime warning-off penalty and substantial fine on Clements.

He said Clements had impeded the stewards' inquiry by his refusal to hand over his complete and original mobile phone records for five months, beginning on September 1.

He said Clements had been given repeated opportunities to provide stewards with the records, but had acted defiantly with his refusal not to follow their directive and therefore warranted a fine as well as being warned off.

Tim McHenry, counsel for Clements, asked the RADB to only fine Clements because his actions did not fall in the serious bracket that warranted him being warned off.

"On the scale of offending, this is not an offence that historically leads to people being warned off for life," McHenry said.

Jockey Daniel Schmitt confirmed yesterday he had been visited by RVL chief steward Terry Bailey and colleague James Williams at his home on Tuesday morning and questioned in relation to the ongoing Danny Nikolic inquiry.

Schmitt said he had given stewards his full co-operation and had provided them access to his phone and computer.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that the two conversations I had with Dan Nikolic on days of interest to the stewards had no relevance whatsoever to their current inquiries," Schmitt said.

Victorian Jockeys' Association chief executive Des O'Keeffe yesterday urged stewards to fast-track all inquiries relating to Schmitt or any other rider.

"This industry thrives on ill-informed gossip, rumour and innuendo, which can be incredibly damaging to innocent parties involved in ongoing stewards' inquiries," O'Keeffe said.

The Herald Sun understands Schmitt and Nikolic spoke on January 7, the day before Finishing Card, ridden by Nikolic, ran second in a Maiden at Mornington.

It was the Finishing Card race that sparked the inquiry. It has subsequently been extended to cover 10 rides by Nikolic, stretching from mid-November to mid-February.