TOM CLARKE, editor of The Sporting Life, has defended his newspaper against libel claims levelled at it by North Yorkshire trainer Lynda Ramsden, her husband Jack, and champion jockey Kieren Fallon.

The Ramsdens, of Sandhutton, near Thirsk, and Fallon are suing The Sporting Life over an editorial which accused them of "cheating" their way to victory in the May 1995 Chester Cup on Top Cees.

The horse had just three weeks earlier come fifth in the Swaffham Handicap at Newmarket.

The article, headlined Contempt For The Punter, described the victory as "seedy and deeply unpopular" and accused Fallon of deliberately not trying to win on Top Cees at Newmarket.

The Ramsdens and Fallon say the article was libellous and caused grave harm to their reputations, but the newspaper insists it was both true and justified in the public interest.

Clarke told the High Court jury he was "very surprised" when stewards who inquired into Top Cees' performance in the Swaffham Handicap decided to give Fallon "the benefit of the doubt" and take no action against him.

The horse had been the subject of a full Jockey Club inquiry four months earlier after a race at Edinburgh, the court heard.

And Clarke said Fallon's performance on Top Cees at Newmarket at the very least deserved to be reported to the Jockey Club by the stewards.

"On this particular horse in this particular race it was almost laughable that, just 20 yards or so from the finish, the whip came out at last," said Mr Clarke, standing by his newspaper's claims that Top Cees had been "tenderly handled" at Newmarket.

Mr Clarke said he had watched the television coverage of the race with Sporting Life colleague Alastair Down.

"Even as Top Cees was passing the post, Alastair and I turned to each other and said: 'We must do something about this,' he told the jury."

The hearing continues.

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