Four years after he received a life ban from horseracing for intimidating and bribing jockeys to throw races, a Sea Point businessman is set to legally battle his warning off by the Jockey Club of South Africa.
Former racehorse owner and current fashion boss Mark Lifman suggests that he might have been the victim of collusion by the very jockeys he was found to have intimidated into attempted race-fixing activities.
He will legally challenge a 2001 decision by the Jockey Club's inquiry board to ban him from racing for life, arguing that certain of the board's procedures were irregular and biased.
Lifman is asking the Cape High Court to review, rescind and/or set aside the Jockey Club's inquiry board September to December 2001 proceedings - pointing out that, at the time of the hearing, he was not even a member of the club.
While the Jockey Club inquiry concluded that Lifman had intimidated jockeys and was involved in two incidents in which jockeys were told not to ride to the best of their abilities, criminal charges against him were later withdrawn. Four jockeys testified against Lifman in the inquiry, including city jockey Brandon Morgenrood - who was subsequently banned from horseracing.
Morgenrood received a lifetime ban after he pleaded guilty to a charge of accepting R15 000 from Lifman to ensure that Gentle Aroma was "not given a full opportunity to win" a race at Durbanville on January 5, 2000.
But Lifman claimed in papers filed before court that Morgenrood had been bullied into testifying against him and - unlike the jockeys who readily testified against him - had been punished for initially declining to give evidence in the inquiry.
"I do not know why the jockeys concerned laid blame at my door. However, bearing in mind that the allegations of 'race-fixing' were involved... that the witnesses were the very jockeys who had ridden the horses concerned in the races concerned and bearing in mind that the Jockey Club was offering 'indemnities' to jockeys willing to give evidence against me, I believe that it is not improbable that the jockeys would have and could have colluded to lay the blame for their escapades at my door," he said.
Her also pointed out that the inquiry board consisted of two men who had presided over the proceedings against Morgenrood and objected to the fact that the police had provided club officials with statements used in the criminal investigation against him.
Jockey Club deputy chairman Gavin Hunter contended in papers that Lifman had brought his review application after an "unreasonable delay" and further argued that the proceedings against Lifman had not been irregular.
The case will be heard in September.