CHANNEL 4 racing presenter Derek Thompson told a court that Kieren Fallon told him he was ordered to "stop" the fancied Top Cees in the Swaffham Handicap at Newmarket.

Thompson gave evidence after he was compelled to appear on behalf of The Sporting Life, which is fighting a libel action over "cheating" allegations brought by champion jockey Fallon, trainer Lynda Ramsden and her husband, Jack.

The Ramsdens live at Sand Hutton, near Thirsk.

They are suing over a "savage verbal onslaught", in an unsigned editorial in May, 1995, the day after Top Cees won the Chester Cup.

It said the couple and Fallon conspired to deceive the racing public by deliberately not trying to win the Swaffham Handicap three weeks earlier.

The Sporting Life publishers Mirror Group Newspapers deny libel. They say the article was justified and fair comment on a "scandal" that was a matter of public interest.

The newspaper's counsel, Richard Hartley QC - who had earlier said that his best evidence would be if he could produce someone who had overheard someone telling Fallon not to win at Newmarket - asked Thompson in the High Court in London for his reaction to the result of the Swaffham Handicap.

Thompson, who was subpoenaed on his return from working in Dubai on Monday, said he felt that the horse "probably should have finished an awful lot closer with a more forceful ride, and probably should have won".

On the night of the race, he was dining with friends at The Old Plough, a favourite racing water-hole near Newmarket, when he saw Fallon.

He told Mr Justice Morland and the jury: "I don't want to repeat this in open court, which is why I've tried to stop it coming to open court because it was said to me in confidence.

"I was asking, 'What happened with Top Cees this afternoon as I thought he would win', and Kieren's words were 'Yes, I thought the horse would win as, but when I got into the paddock Jack told me to stop it'."

He said he was reluctant to become involved in the case because he had no desire to get involved with litigation between people he knew on both sides.

The hearing continues.

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