Former leading jockey Jamie Osborne today denied being involved in race-fixing or making money from "bent" races.
He told the Old Bailey: "I have never seen a bent race."
Asked whether his lifestyle was supported by race-fixing, he answered: "Absolutely not".
Osborne and fellow jump jockey Dean Gallagher were arrested by police on suspicion of race-fixing in 1998, but were never charged, the court heard today.
Osborne, 32, is giving evidence against private investigator Robert Harrington, 58, who denies trying to extort £500 from him by deception and a further £2,000 to bribe a detective.
It is claimed Harrington, a former Thames Valley detective sergeant, approached the jockey turned flat racing trainer during the police investigation.
He offered to be a go-between and, when he realised there was no case against Osborne, who is based in Lambourn, Berks, tried to make money out of him by pretending he could influence a policeman, it is claimed.
Osborne, smartly dressed in a grey suit and blue tie, told the court that he was shocked by his arrest and subsequent claims by Harrington.
After consulting his solicitor, he went to Scotland Yard and acted under cover with police to trap Harrington with secret videos and tapes, he said.
Cross-examined by Richard Ferguson QC, defending Harrington, Osborne said he was arrested in January 1998 after "pulling up" well-backed Avanti Express at an Exeter meeting in 1997.
He had taken the horse out of the race because "it was exhausted" and tests later showed it had been doped.
