Ex-jockey denies tie to Melbourne murders

Former topline Australian jockey Gavin Eades fears for his life after being rumoured to be involved in Melbourne's gangland murders.

Rumours have circulated that Eades was somehow involved with the botched attempt to gun down Melbourne crime identity Des "Tuppence" Moran as he sat in his Mercedes in the drive of his home in March.

On Monday, two gunmen ambushed and killed Moran in his favourite cafe in Ascot Vale in Melbourne in what was the 29th killing since 1998 when Melbourne's gang wars began between two rival factions.

Eades has denied involvement in the killing and said rumours linking him to the earlier murder attempt were endangering his life.

Eades has told the media he had seen Moran as recently as a fortnight ago and they were on good terms.

He said speculation about him and his convicted criminal brother Travis, an associate of jailed drug boss Carl Williams, was putting the pair at risk.

George Williams - patriarch of the rival Williams crime family - will be released from prison at the weekend.

Monday's hit was on the ninth anniversary of the gunning down of Des Moran's nephew Mark.

Moran's brother and another nephew, Jason, were also subsequently murdered in the gangland war.

Eades became famous for his elated dash across the Randwick birdcage after winning the 1995 Doncaster Handicap on Pharoah for the second year running for trainer Gai Waterhouse.

He was a guest rider at the carnival at Ellerslie a year later.

Pharoah was part owned by Auckland broadcaster Leighton Smith.

Eades' entire riding career was turbulent. In 1994, he was suspended for three months for punching another rider in the jockeys' room at Wyong.

A year later, he and fellow jockeys Jim Cassidy and Kevin Moses were disqualified for what became known as the Jockey Tapes case, where police discovered they were tipping for profit.

In July last year, Eades was charged with unlawful assault on a woman in Melbourne.