Racing Victoria has accepted the decision of the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary board and will not appeal the verdict handed down in the Danny Nikolic case.

The RAD Board acquitted Nikolic of four charges accusing him of improper conduct and conduct prejudicial to the interests of racing, centring on the jockey’s relationship with a trio of warned-off punters.

RVL general manager of integrity, Dayle Brown, said the stewards have looked at the RAD Board’s reasons for the verdict before deciding against an appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“We gave the matter a long review but we have decided not to appeal the Board’s findings,” he said.

“We thought at the time we had a prima facie case, but we weren’t successful. We have accepted the Board’s decision and we will move on.”

Meanwhile, RVL chief executive Rob Hines has all-but ruled out licensing for all form analysts in the wake of the drawn-out Nikolic investigation.

Much of the stewards’ case centred on the jockey’s phone conversations with former bookmaker Neville Clements, who Nikolic claimed throughout the hearing he used as a form analyst .

The Australian Jockeys’ Association floated the idea of licensed form analysts to control the parties to which jockeys speak about their mounts chances.

“It would be unlikely form analysts would be licensed,” Hines said. “Where do you draw the line at who is a form analyst?

“Nearly all punters could be classified as form analysts. It would be very hard to manage, but we will give thoughtful consideration to help provide definition for jockeys.”

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