Irish jockey John Egan was fined A$8,000 (HK$40,800) on the eve of today's Melbourne Cup for calling two Australian veterinary surgeons a 'couple of tin-pot Hitlers'.
Egan, who fled Hong Kong in 2002 during an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation into alleged corruption and race fixing, pleaded guilty to bringing racing into disrepute with his comments in a TV interview and giving unreliable evidence at a tribunal hearing.
The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board allowed him to ride in Australia's richest and most prestigious thoroughbred race today but his mount, Yellowstone, was withdrawn last night because of a hip injury.
Board chairman Russell Lewis told Egan he was an 'unsatisfactory witness' and rejected the jockey's evidence he had not directed his comments at the vets. Lewis said Egan's conduct had been 'reprehensible'.
Egan told an initial inquiry that he had reached 'boiling point' at the time of the interview. 'When you are under pressure you say things you regret,' Egan told the original inquiry, according to Australian Associated Press. 'I just felt the vet was against the horse running.'
Veterinary stewards passed Yellowstone fit after he galloped at Flemington on Saturday, but new concerns were raised after a further inspection at the horse's Sandown stables yesterday and he was later withdrawn. Egan's Hong Kong career finished abruptly in early 2002 when the ICAC sensationally swooped to investigate alleged corruption and race fixing.
Of the 19 personalities arrested, two were jockeys and one was Egan.