Melbourne Cup winner Corey Brown has been fined for his celebratory gesture in which he whipped his horse Shocking on the shoulder as he passed the finish line.

The champion jockey was fined $500 and has a 10 meeting suspension effective after this weekend as result of his offense.

Brown claims to be innocent in the matter stating that he merely flicked his wrist in a celebratory gesture and did not believe there was enough evidence the whip made contact with the horse.

Similarly, trainer David Hayes has pleaded guilty to charges of insulting behaviour towards Racing Victoria-appointed veterinary surgeons.

After ruling his Melbourne Cup runner Changingoftheguard as unfit to compete, an upset Hayes referred to the veterinarians as knuckleheads in front of the media.

Racing Victoria’s Chief Steward Terry Bailey made it clear that Hayes’ behaviour would not be tolerated particularly during such an event which receives worldwide media attention.

More than $1.67 billion dollars is expected to be wagered on the four-day Flemington Spring Racing Carnival which begins this Saturday.

Kicking off with the Victoria Derby Day, this year’s four-day carnival is likely to produce a new betting record with punters wagering over $230 million on the Melbourne Cup alone.

However it will be this Saturday’s nine races including five Group One events which will produce the biggest turnover in bets.

During the Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Crown Oaks Day and Emirates Stakes Day, bookmakers will take in an estimated 159 million bets.

With more and more punters becoming tech-savvy, trackside bookmakers are being pushed aside for online bookmakers and it is predicted that by 2014, trackside bookies will produce less than three percent of the total racing turnover each year.

But whichever way the betting industry turns, it doesn’t seem like the racing betting industry will be in any financial trouble in the coming years.