'Tapegate' truce called; Savill and Crichton-Miller end war of words over request to record RCA meeting.

Peter Savill and Angus Crichton-Miller yesterday brought down the curtain on their public row over allegations relating to the tape-recording of a Racecourse Association meeting.

Crichton-Miller, chairman of the RCA, issued a statement in which he accepted that Savill was not behind a request to tape a Southern Area meeting of the RCA at Bath on July 1. Savill, in turn, said he regarded the matter as closed.

The two men had waged a war of words since the incident, which resulted in representatives of Plumpton racecourse, where Savill is the major shareholder, being asked to leave the meeting, which had been called to discuss fixture-list developments.

Earlier, a request from Plumpton clerk David McHarg to be permitted to tape-record proceedings was turned down after RCA Southern area chairman Rodger Farrant had consulted members.

Crichton-Miller, who chaired the session, said members believed the request for a tape-recording had been made on Savill's behalf.

This was flatly denied by Savill, who insisted that Plumpton chief executive Grant Knowles had asked McHarg to record a routine Southern area meeting that day-not the Fixtures 2000 meeting-because Knowles could not attend.

In a letter to the Racing Post (July 9), Savill demanded to know who "implied that the recording was requested" on his behalf.

In yesterday's statement, Crichton-Miller said: "I and other RCA members had every reason to believe that Peter Savill had requested David McHarg to tape the two RCA

meetings at Bath racecourse on July 1.

"I now accept that Peter was in no way involved in any such request and that it was miscommunication that created the misunderstanding."

In reply, Savill commented: "Having heard Angus's explanation of why he believed I was implicated in

the request to record the Bath meeting, I greatly appreciate his acceptance that I was in no way involved and am happy to consider the matter closed."

The settlement of the dispute will be seen as opening the way towards a possible improvement in the strained relations between Savill and Crichton-Miller, who fell out over the controversial 2000 fixture list.