Derry-born rider Fergal Lynch has been granted permission to ride in Britain again after the British Horseracing Authority consented to lift his ban on an initial one-year basis.
Lynch, who is now 36 and from Culmore, is the city’s only professional jockey. He will make his British return at Ayr on Monday after his solicitor said he was a ‘changed man’.
Lynch admitted race fixing after an Old Bailey trial collapsed in 2007.
He admitted stopping his horse Bond City from winning at Ripon in 2004 and supplying the subsequently warned-off Miles Rodgers with inside information for reward.
He agreed not to apply for a licence to ride in Britain for at least a year and paid a £50,000 fine as part of his plea bargain.
Lynch went on to ride in America and Spain and then rode on his Spanish licence in Ireland in 2011, clocking up 53 winners.
He is being allowed to return to Britain on a one-year trial basis.
“We were aware that we had to balance the reputation of the sport against assessment of the individual merits of his application,” read a BHA statement on the decision.
“We have reached the conclusion that it would be fair and reasonable to permit Lynch to ride in Britain.
“He accepts the severity of the fine and sanctions that were imposed upon him and the consequences they had on his career and he has shown that he possesses the qualities to abide by the rules of other jurisdictions during his time riding in Ireland and overseas.”
Lynch’s solicitor, Harry Stewart-Moore, said his client was “a changed man” and that he was determined to “rebuild his reputation” in British racing.
Friends in Derry say he paid a “very high price” for a “very stupid one-off mistake.”
One friend told us: “He’s entitled to move on and rebuild his life and career and this is the next step.”