The British Horseracing Authority has taken action against corruption in the sport, charging 13 people, including five jockeys and two owners, with serious rule violations following an investigation into suspicious betting activity.
Major online betting companies are often the initial source of information triggering such investigations when irregular betting patterns are spotted.
The BHA has revealed that the current case is centred on 10 races in 2009 where large bets were placed on horses to lose. The jockeys, Paul Doe, Greg Fairley, Paul Fitzsimons, Kirsty Milczarek and Jimmy Quinn, have been charged with “failing to ensure that their horse was run on its merits.”
The owners, Maurice Sines and James Crickmore, along with six others are charged with giving the jockeys “inside information in relation to the named horse” in return for “material reward, gift, favour or benefit in kind.”
All 13 are also charged with conspiring “to commit a corrupt of fraudulent practice.
An independent disciplinary panel hearing will begin October 20 this year.