FORMER top-ranking FBI official Timothy McNally starts work as Jockey Club security supremo tomorrow morning after a turbulent month for Hong Kong racing.
Mr McNally, the FBI's former No 2 in California, comes in just days after a District Court judge accused club investigators of displaying an 'oppressive attitude', before freeing an apprentice jockey accused of taking $800,000 to fix a race.
It also comes amid a potentially internationally embarrassing horse-doping probe involving top trainer Patrick Biancone.
Mr McNally, 51, who will report directly to Jockey Club chief executive Lawrence Wong Chi-kwong, is understood to have landed the top job over, among others, present security controller David Twynham.
The former FBI man admitted in an interview with the Post the day after his March appointment that he could initially face hostility.
He has declined to give any other interviews until his 'feet are under the table', said Jockey Club spokesman Wilson Cheng Kwok-ming.
Mr McNally is expected to preside over one of the biggest security shake-ups in Jockey Club history, which will give the upgraded security division unprecedented scope.