Two jockeys face corruption charges

These are some serious charges against two hoops with regard to betting on racing from April to August 2022. 

It is one of the main laws of horse racing in jurisdictions across the world that jockeys are not allowed to be members of any betting sites. That means that not only can they not place bets themselves but they also cannot give information to others to place bets on their behalf. 

The charges in this case cover a time period from March to August 2022. Since those dates, both jockeys have moved to different jurisdictions with Poy plying his trade in Western Australia and German heading to New South Wales. The pair both started race riding in 2017 and had more than 600 winners between them at the ages of 24 and 25 respectively.  
 
Although it has been more than two years since the start of that timespan, charges of this severity take some time to piece together. No date has yet been set for the hearing but it is going to be something else that those who are against this sport use as a stick to beat the world of horse racing with.  

Michael Poy facing 19 corruption charges 

Poy was still riding with success of late in Western Australia, his final rides just a couple of weeks ago in mid-April. He would salute on Fly With Caution at Ascot in what is his most recent ride on April 13.  
 
Poy is facing the most charges of the group, 10 of which are related to information being passed on in races that he did not ride in. That is not a smart situation to put himself in but the more serious charges are on the races that he did have a ride in. 
 
There are a number of charges for this, passing on information and then riding his horse in such a way as to make sure that the bet placed was a successful one. These are the ones that are the biggest blow to the integrity of racing with bets allegedly being placed on Poy’s behalf. 
 
Another charge is approaching another jockey who is not named in the charges to offer money to them if they ride their horse not on its merits. While Poy might not have been the ringleader of the operation, the fact that he would try to recruit other jockeys into the corruption does not reflect well on him. 

Lewis German has not ridden since 2023 

Considered by many as a rising star of the sport, German has not ridden in a race since September 2023. He moved to New South Wales from Victoria and made a big impact early on there. 
 
German was making a name for himself on tricky horses, able to coax the best out of runners that were not considered by punters, saluting at some tidy prices. That though looks a thing of the past with four charges against him. 
 
The first of those is failing to disclose to stewards that he was approached in March 2022 about conduct that would breach the rules. When renewing his licence in 2022, German failed to disclose he had betting accounts in his name, something Poy is also charged with. The largest of all the charges for German is the same as Poy, that he would pass information to Brash about races that he was riding in.

Professional gambler also charged for his part 

The two jockeys could not have done everything on their own so it was inevitable that there would be a professional gambler involved in the corruption charges. There are five charges levelled at Noah Brash that are directly involved with gambling on races that Poy and German were riding in. 

These are serious charges with the integrity of the sport on the line. The impact that a good or bad ride can have on a horse winning or losing a race is enormous so given what is on the line here in terms of general public perception, the book could be thrown at those involved with some lengthy bans from the sport.