‘Strikes at the heart of racing integrity’: Pro punter warned off tracks after betting for jockey
By Danny Russell
A former professional punter at the centre of a jockey betting scandal has been warned off racetracks for 10 years by the Victorian Racing Tribunal for actions that attack “the very essence of our horse racing industry”.
Tribunal chairman Judge John Bowman handed down the penalty against Noah Brash, 29, on Friday morning after he pleaded guilty to five charges under the Rules of Racing of betting on behalf of a jockey.
Jockey Michael Poy.Credit: Getty Images
Bowman said Brash bet more than $172,000 on two separate race days at the request or direction of a jockey and won money as a result.
“These are grave offences striking at the very heart of racing integrity,” Bowman said.
The tribunal warned Brash off racetracks for 10 years on each of the five charges, but ruled that the time was to be served concurrently.
The tribunal was unable to suspend or disqualify Brash because he was not a licensed person in the racing industry.
At an earlier hearing, it was revealed that Brash operated separate Betfair accounts for himself and jockey Michael Poy and won more than $350,000 between April 2022 and August 2022 when placing bets involving horses ridden by Poy or his friend, and fellow jockey, Lewis German.
The bets included laying horses to lose, backing a horse to win, head-to-head bets, and picking horses to run in the top four.
Racing industry charges against Poy and German are expected to be heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal next year. Neither jockey has entered a plea.
The tribunal heard that Brash placed bets for Poy and himself involving four different races – three of them at Swan Hill on August 7, 2022, and a fourth race at Bendigo on August 14, 2022.
Poy and German rode in two of the races on which the bets were placed.
Brash and Poy communicated using borrowed phones, aliases, different SIM cards and sent messages over the Signal app – a free service that supports end-to-end encryption.
The tribunal heard that Brash operated one betting account for himself, called Brashboy1, that returned a betting profit of $98,956 when backing or laying horses ridden by German and Poy.
He operated another account for Poy, Brashboy2, that showed a profit of $259,610 when backing or laying horses ridden by German and Poy.
Racing Victoria stewards revealed that Brash first met Poy, the son of Cox Plate-winning jockey Michael Clarke, at the Sandown races in 2018 and offered to do free speed maps for the then 18-year-old apprentice.
They then became close friends, speaking on the phone “at all times of the day and night” and even playing online games together, such as FIFA on PlayStation.
Four years after they met, Brash’s betting habits changed significantly.
From April 12, 2022, he began targeting horses ridden by Poy or German to not win or place in races, stewards alleged.
Racing Victoria discovered screenshots of their messages on Brash’s phone, and these led to the five charges laid against Brash.
New chief to lead Caulfield
Melbourne Racing Club has appointed Tom Reilly as its new chief executive officer, almost four months after Josh Blanksby vacated the role.
Reilly, who is based in New South Wales and heads up Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, comes to the position after he narrowly missed out on the Racing Victoria CEO role to Aaron Morrison in August.
“The board is very excited to have Tom lead the team at the MRC,” MRC chairman John Kanga said on Friday.
“We wanted someone with deep racing knowledge and experience and Tom will bring that to the club.”
Before taking on the chief executive role at the breeders association a decade ago, Reilly worked as a senior reporter and editor with the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The MRC is one of the great race clubs, not just in Australia, but globally,” Reilly said.
He will start in the position at the end of January. The MRC runs the Caulfield, Sandown and Mornington race clubs.
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