RACECOURSE clerks were yesterday warned over their responsibilities following the fining of two officials by the Jockey Club.

Wolverhampton's clerk of the course Ashley Bealby and David McAllister his counterpart at Uttoxeter, were both fined £500 following abandonments of their fixtures last year.

The pair were convicted under racing's equivalent of "bringing the game into disrepute".

Bealby was responsible for calling off Wolverhampton's St Stephen's Day fixture and McAllister was in charge when Uttoxeter was abandoned just prior to racing on November 28th.

Jockey Club spokesman David Pipe said: "if racing is in doubt then their duty under the instructions is to keep everyone informed. The instructions were changed in January this, year.

"What the Jockey Club is saying is that provided everyone is kept informed as to what is happening, no one is going to, complain. Clerks of the course have a duty to the wider public.

"If they feel a meeting is in doubt they must follow the instructions and call an inspection."

Bealby called off his meeting at 8.45 a.m. after first giving assurances that there were no problems and he abandoned without even calling an inspection.

McAllister made no formal announcement of an inspection and called his meeting off at 1.00pm.

The disciplinary committee ruled that Bealby had carried out an unannounced inspection at approximately 9.00 a.m. without the chairman of the stewards being present, which resulted in the meeting being abandoned due to frost.