That Danny Nikolic was cleared by the Racing Appeals Board tribunal this afternoon at Racing Victoria headquarters of any serious charges, is of no surprise to anyone who sat in the final proceedings this morning.

Once Judge Russell Lewis stated that it emerged that the stewards' legal team had failed to use "prosecutional fairness" in a key area of the case last week - a phrase certainly new to this humble form analyst - the jockey's team only had to ride hands and heels to the line.

Without getting bogged down with the legalities, (which is almost impossible but we'll try) the nutshell of the case was basically whether Nikolic was legitimately discussing race-tactics and options with Neville Clements, a form analyst who also happened to be a personal friend, or whether he was declaring to that analyst that the horse could not win.

And when that form analyst/friend backed that horse to lose the race on Betfair (which is pefectly legal), was it simply because he was going to place that bet anyway and the form/tactics discussion only confirmed his opinions on the outcome of the race?

Or as the stewards case was asserting was it because Nikolic confided with him tactics that were unlikely to any analyst who studied the race unless he was specifically told otherwise? An example of this would be trying to lead on a horse that generally settles at the back of the field. This is technically illegal, but not the career-threatening situation that this case was threatening to be.

Or was Nikolic telling Clements that he would ensure the horse wouldn't win, which is also known as not letting a horse run on its merits. A sustained charge such as this would obviously be as serious an accusation as could be leveled against a rider.

By way of background, this enquiry started when Betfair's so-called integrity officers reported what it stated was unusual betting patterns to stewards in Victoria and Queensland and became public when a significant article by Patrick Smith was published in The Australian on 13 February this year.

For an organization that has been continually criticized by many older and more traditional racing administrators for giving punters an opportunity to back horses to lose, it was a PR dream for their desire to prove to be a "good cop" for the sport.

It was one of two contributions that Smith, the multi award-winning columnist made to that edition.

His column, "Divided Racing Headed For Fall" extensively quoted Betfair chief executive Andrew Twaits, describing him as "one highly regarded race analyst."

This writer could be on the wrong track, but perhaps this suggests the Nikolic camp made a big mistake by accusing the stewards of leaking to the media?

So when it was time for Betfair to produce at the enquiry last week, the resultant headlines proved a big distraction to the devil of the detail.

That Betfair gave evidence that commission agent Neville Clements backed Nikolic's horses to lose on 24 occasions was a headline.

That Clements layed Nikolic's mounts to lose an average of $6309 was also a headline.

That Betfair's Matthew Clark stated that there was a "bias" pattern against Nikolic's mounts was also a headline.

But with due respect to my media colleagues, eminent judge's look into a person's guilt or innocence in a bit more depth than that and decided that:

1) While it was fact that Clements layed Nikolic's horses on 24 occasions - which was more than any other individual jockey - during the time his betting patterns were assessed, he layed 460 horses in total. So less than 6 per cent of the time was he laying a Nikolic mount.

2) The $6309 that Clements layed Nikolic's mounts to lose on average was less than he layed (fellow hoop) Craig Newitt's mounts to lose. ($8427 on average.) That his average loss on jockey Luke Nolen was only $1489, should be seen in the context that Nolen is the leading rider in the state, and is the stable jockey for the state's leading trainer in Peter Moody. So not laying Nolen is simply smart punting!

3) The "bias" pattern against Nikolic's mount were strongly tempered by the five times that Nikolic won the race when Clements bet against him!

If Nikolic is accused of telling Clements that a horse won't win, and Clements is accused of betting in a "biased" fashion against Nikolic's winning chances, you'd suggest the accusations are weakened if Nikolic rides the winner and Clements loses financially.

It is sincerely hoped that neither Nikolic nor chief steward Terry Bailey is thought of in a lesser light from this drawn-out case.

Despite an at-times colourful history, the 35-year-old Nikolic should have Melbourne's racing world at his feet.

There's no doubt the enquiry over the past few months just a year after a controversial exit from Mauritius, (and he isn't the first and won't be the last to exit a - shall we say - non-mainstream racing outpost in strained circumstances,) has dented his reputation, but his outrageous talent, proven big-race tactical nous and a "point-to-prove" hunger, will see him bounce back.

In Bailey's case there will almost certainly be short-term flack, but it should be pointed out that Judge Lewis made a point of saying the findings were in no way a criticism of the thoroughness nor duration of the investigation.

So when the smoke clears, observers, punters and participants alike should see the bigger picture, which is that having a chief steward with a strict "no favourites" policy can only be a good thing for the industry.

Hopefully the knock-on effect of this case is that all licensed people will be extra vigilant when it comes to the transparency of all their actions, such as who they speak to on the phone and when, and to also realize that in a sport that lives or dies with the confidence of those prepared to wager on its outcomes, being seen to be doing the right thing is as important as doing the right thing.

And that is the best of "good things" for racing!

"Racetrack" Ralphy Horowitz is a full-time racing analyst for private clients and media commentator for Sport 927. He is a former producer at The Footy Show, Sunday Footy Show, 3AW & SEN.