Findlay says he placed far bigger bets on the horse winning

Professional gambler Harry Findlay has had his six-month ban from horse racing reduced to a £4,500 fine on appeal.

The former part-owner of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman had earlier admitted betting on one of his horses, Gullible Gordon, to lose in two races.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has accepted he bet more on the horse to win and had no corrupt motive.

The hearing took into account that Findlay had already served a month's ban while waiting for the appeal.

After the hearing, Findlay was quoted in The Guardian as saying: "It is a great result for me, but also I think it is a great result for racing."

In a statement through his solicitor, he added: "After two minutes of listening to Sir Roger Buckley (who chaired the Appeal Board), I knew that I was shorter than 1.01 to get the disqualification overturned.

"He was so impressive. He was flanked by two other panellists who, like him, obviously had a thorough knowledge of the case and this is all I wanted.

"After the undoubtedly toughest four weeks of my life, I very nearly actually smiled when he spoke of a 'gambler's instinct'. I knew then that he understood the case and, in my language, he was simply 'the governor'.

The two races in question were a novice hurdle at Exeter in October 2008 and a novice steeplechase at Chepstow a year later. All the bets were on the betting exchange Betfair.

In the first race, Gullible Gordon, an odds-on favourite, was well beaten. Findlay bet £80,000 on the horse winning and £17,000 on it losing and came out with a net loss of £62,000.

The horse, a 4-6 favourite, won the second race and Findlay backed him to the tune of £64,000 but also laid the horse off at £32,000. He came out with a profit of £35,000.

The fine represented the amount the high-profile gambler had "improved his position" by after laying bets in-running during the Chepstow race.

FINDLAY'S STAKES Race One - Win bets: £80,000 Lose bets: £17,000 Loss: £62,000 Race Two - Win bets: £64,000 Lose bets: £32,000 Profit: £35,000 Overall loss: £27,000

Findlay claimed the rule breach relating to the first race, at Exeter, was a mistake after he "made a technical error and pressed the wrong button". The independent panel agreed there was not enough evidence to dispute that and concentrated on the Chepstow race.

In that case, large bets were initially placed, followed by smaller lay bets in running because Findlay knew the tactics were to make the running and he thought the odds would be more favourable to him. The strategy worked and he improved his position by £4,500.

Findlay, who was not legally represented at the original hearing, instructed barrister Roderick Moore, an expert in sports disciplinary hearings, to represent him at the appeal.

A statement from the BHA read: "It was not presented as other than a deliberate betting strategy in which the lay bets were a relatively small part of an overall back bet and in which no-one lost unfairly.

"The panel proceeded on that basis. There was no suggestion that the integrity of the race or Gullible Gordon's running in it was in jeopardy. It is clear that Mr Findlay's best financial interests lay in the horse winning.

"There was also the mitigation already mentioned, in particular, Mr Findlay's full co-operation and the fact that it was Mr Findlay himself who drew the BHA's attention to the Exeter race when interviewed concerning the Chepstow betting."

Paul Struthers, head of communications for the BHA, added: "As this case conclusively highlights, both the Disciplinary Panel and Appeal Board are independent of the Authority and reach their own conclusions based on the evidence and material presented to them.

"The Authority's role is to set the Rules and Guideline Penalties and then charge and prosecute when necessary.

Findlay was a former part-owner of 2008 Gold Cup winner Denman

"In this case, we maintain it was absolutely right to charge Mr Findlay; he had clearly breached the Rules, despite having previously been reminded of them and his responsibilities.

"The Rules must apply equally to everyone. As the Appeal Board themselves say, 'it is hard to envisage any excuses for its breach in future'.'"

There is no suggestion that Gullible Gordon's trainer Paul Nicholls knew anything about Findlay's bets on the horse.

Findlay, who is reportedly considering a move to Australia, had previously said he was devastated by the ban.

"I'm not going to shout and scream at anyone - I'm a heartbroken man," he said. "Win or lose the appeal, I will never own horses in Britain again."

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