Integrity charges: Jockey Ben Melham salutes on horse caught up in alleged betting activities
Just days after being hit with a string of serious racing integrity charges, jockey Ben Melham has won at Sandown midweek races on a horse which is at the core of one of the seven alleged offences.
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UPDATE: In a supreme racing irony, Ben Melham has lifted the gloom on a troubled week by winning on a horse he is accused by Racing Victoria stewards of allegedly facilitating successful bets on at Geelong last year.
Melham coolly guided Orleans Rock, the $2.50 favourite, to victory in the Ladbrokes Handicap (1600m), two days after being hit with a string of serious racing integrity charges.
One of those charges relates to providing false and or misleading evidence during an interview with stewards last year.
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The multiple Group 1-winning jockey is expected to vigorously contest all the charges.
Under immense pressure, Melham piloted Orleans Rock in a last-to-first victory in atrocious conditions at Sandown, overcoming rain and mud.
Melham’s three other rides at rain-soaked Sandown were all unplaced.
Melham’s win on Orleans Rock at Geelong on September 1 last year for trainer Peter Gelagotis is at the core of one of the seven charges.
Stewards allege Melham, through an associate, illegally facilitated bets for his partner and co-charged Karlie Dales. Ridden by Melham, Orleans Rock won the race.
Dales is charged with providing false or misleading evidence to stewards.
RV has chosen not to enforce stand down provisions, allowing Melham to keep riding until his case is heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
A date for the hearing is yet to be fixed.
Melham will continue to be monitored by RV stewards, who have watched the jockey closely since he was questioned in September over allegations he placed bets totalling in excess of $21,000.
Orleans Rock is now trained by Paul Preusker.
The first jockey to win a Group 1 aboard champion sprinter Black Caviar, Melham is alleged to have bet more than $14,000 in one four-hour gambling spree.
Under the Australian rules of racing, a jockey found guilty of betting on or having an interest in bets on horses he or she then rides in is liable to a mandatory disqualification of “not less than 2 years” unless special circumstances exist.
The penalties relating to the relevant rule were increased in March 2013, after Damien Oliver received a 10-month suspension for betting $10,000 on winning horse Miss Octopussy.
Oliver rode Europa Point into sixth place in the same race at Moonee Valley.
James McDonald avoided a two-year ban in 2016 and was instead suspended for 18 months for being party to a $1000 bet on a winning horse he rode. His penalty was reduced for his co-operation with the inquiry and a guilty plea.
Racing Victoria integrity chief Jamie Stier has indicated Melham can continue riding, subject to no further breaches and maintaining appropriate levels of conduct.
Melham has five rides at Cranbourne on Friday night and four at Sandown on Saturday.
MELHAM LOOKING DOWN BARRELL OF TWO YEARS
Jockey Ben Melham would need to establish special circumstances to avoid a two-year ban from racing amid an expectation the Group 1 winner will fully contest serious charges for betting-related offences.
Melham is free to keep riding until his case is heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal, having been closely monitored by Racing Victoria stewards since an interview last September over allegations he had placed bets totalling in excess of $21,000.
Stewards hit the 17-time Group 1 winner with seven charges, including allegations he bet more than $14,000 in one four-hour-spree, and one charge of betting on horses he then rode.
Under the Australian rules of racing a jockey found guilty of betting on or having an interest in bets on horses he or she then rides, a disqualification of “not less than two years must be imposed”.
But the rule states a finding by the VRT that “a special circumstance exists” could allow for a reduced penalty.
The penalties attached to the rule were changed in March 2013, just a few months after Damien Oliver received a 10-month suspension for betting $10,000 on winning horse Miss Octopussy in a race in which he rode.
James McDonald avoided a two-year ban in 2016 and was instead suspended for only 18 months for being party to a $1000 bet on a winning horse he was riding, his penalty reduced for his co-operation with the inquiry and a guilty plea.
Racing Victoria integrity chief Jamie Stier said Melham could continue to ride with his conduct continually scrutinised.
“That’s the decision the stewards have made at this time. But if anything comes to light or if they think that position ought be revisited, they would conduct the process to give consideration to that,” Stier said.
“That decision to allow him to continue riding was three fold. He’s fully expected to contest the charges, we are hoping we can get it heard at the earliest possible date and thirdly there’s been ongoing monitoring of him during the course of the investigation.”
The specifics of that monitoring are unclear, but its understood Melham’s conduct has been under scrutiny, and there’s no suggestion of any offending beyond the charges that have been laid.
“There’s nothing that has lead stewards to the belief that the process to stand him down should be initiated.”
Stier also said rules banning jockeys from betting, even on horses they were not riding, went to heart of the integrity of racing and would not be lifted.
JOCKEY CHARGED OVER $21,000 BETTING SPREE
Melham is facing a lengthy ban from racing for betting-related offences amid allegations by Racing Victoria stewards he used his girlfriend’s account to place more than $14,000 in bets in a single day.
Stewards on Monday completed an extensive investigation into the Group 1-winning jockey, who won the VRC St Leger on Saturday when he rode Sacramento to a narrow victory at Flemington.
Melham, 32, was hit with seven charges relating to 31 bets made from March to September last year totalling over $21,000, including four bets allegedly made on horses he rode.
One of those, Orleans Rock, won a race at Geelong last September after Melham allegedly placed bets through his partner, Karlie Dales, who was also charged by stewards.
Melham and Dales, a registered owner, were both charged for giving false or misleading evidence when questioned by stewards last September.
The Herald Sun believes evidence, possibly video footage, obtained from a betting company is central to the case against Melham.
One charge relates to Melham attending a hotel in August last year and allegedly supplying money to someone who then placed five bets totalling $2114 on races in Singapore.
Melham has also been accused of placing significant sums of money in the account of Dales, from which he then bet on multiple occasions.
In a single four-and-a-half hour spree on March 30 last year, when Melham was sidelined with a wrist injury, it’s alleged the Group 1 winner placed $3000 in his partner’s account and then made 20 bets totalling $14,600.
The case against Melham will be heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal at a date to be fixed.
In 2010 Melbourne Cup-winning rider Blake Shinn was disqualified for 15 months and Peter Robl for 12 months following revelations they bet more than $300,000 over a two-year period.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver was also banned for 10 months in 2012 for placing a single $10,000 bet on a horse he rode.
Most of the bets allegedly made by Melham were placed made when he was sidelined for three months in March last year after suffering multiple fractures in his left wrist following a bad fall when Voodoo Lad collapsed and fell in the William Reid Stakes at The Valley.
He successfully returned to race riding in June after surgeons inserted several screws and a plate in his wrist.
Melham is currently fifth on the Victorian metro jockey’s premiership.
He has ridden 1171 winners, including 17 at Group 1 level, since starting his career in 2003.
His first major win came aboard Black Caviar when he guided the champion mare to her first Group 1 success in the 2010 Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington.
Originally apprenticed to disqualified trainer Darren Weir, Melham transferred to Lee Freedman before climbing through the riding ranks as one of the most sought-after jockeys in Victoria.
THE CHARGES
1. Through the betting account of his partner Karlie Dales, Melham placed a $500 win bet on Venezuela at Sandown on March 27, 2019. Venezuela ran unplaced. Melham wasn’t riding.
2. On March 30, 2019, Melham placed $3000 in the account of Karlie Dales at a hotel and then facilitated and/or had an interest in the making of, 20 bets totalling $14,600 on thoroughbred horse races between approximately 1.18pm and 5.36pm. Melham wasn’t riding.
3. On May 19, 2019, through Karlie Dales’ betting account, Melham placed a two-legged multi bet to the value of $2,500, one leg of which included Amazingly, which ran at the Sunshine Coast that day. The other leg of the bet was not a thoroughbred horse race. Melham wasn’t riding.
4. On 23 July 2019, through Dales’ betting account, Melham placed bets to the value of $1,850 on thoroughbred horses Heirborn, Al Dorama and/or Shot of Irish running at Sandown the next day. Melham rode Al Dorama, which finished third, and Shot of Irish, which ran second. Heirborn was scratched.
5. On August 18, 2019, Melham made, facilitated and/or had an interest in the making of five bets totalling $2114 on thoroughbred horse racing in Singapore, when he attended a hotel and supplied cash to someone who placed those bets.
6. On or prior to 1 September 2019, through an associate, Melham facilitated bets for Dales on Orleans Rock, which Melham rode to victory at Geelong that day.
7. Evidence Melham gave in an interview with stewards on 3 September, 2019 about placing cash into Dales’ betting account was false and/or misleading.
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Originally published as Integrity charges: Jockey Ben Melham salutes on horse caught up in alleged betting activities