As expected millionaire punter Steve Fletcher has been found guilty of race fixing by Racing Queensland stewards who stated Fletcher knew “Bold Glance was not allowed to run on its merits” in the now infamous Eagle Farm race in February.

The inquiry was re-commenced yesterday and a weight of evidence showed Fletcher was a close associate of Bobby El-Issa who rode Bold Glance and was recently banned for two years.

Fletcher’s betting records showed he had invested on eventual winner Essington to win the race and he had also back Bold Glance to lose at a significant risk.

Stewards said there was a clear “correlation identified by Betfair between Fletcher’s lay bets and El-Issa’s rides”.

“In the stewards opinion the Betfair evidence leads to a strong inference that Mr Fletcher is in receipt of information from jockey El-Issa as to the prospects of specific mounts and, in particular, that he had the benefit of information from jockey El-Issa that Bold Glance would not try to defeat Essington,” the stewards report read.

No penalty has yet been handed out with stewards waiting for a final submission from Fletcher however it’s almost certain he will be banned from betting on any race around the country either at the track or via phone and internet.

The powers available to the stewards under code AR196 reads:

“Subject to subrule(2) of this Rule any person or body authorized by the Rules to penalize any person may, unless the contrary is provided, do so by disqualification, suspension, reprimand, or fine not exceeding $75,000. Provided that a disqualification or suspension may be supplemented by a fine.”

Earlier in the week it was reported Fletcher laid every ride of El-Issa during the program with a combined risk of more than $300,000 and El-Issa didn’t ride a winner all day.