Australian professional jockey Adam Hyeronimus has been suspended from participating in horse races for three years over a massive betting scandal.
The 30-year-old Hyeronimus, a Group 1-winning jockey, was found guilty on 30 of 31 charges in placing illegal bets. He was accused of using the SportsBet account owned by his cousin, Blake Paine, to place bets on horse races. As it became clear during the investigation, two of the abovementioned bets involved horses rode in races by Hyeronimus. A few days ago, the two men fronted stewards once again in a hearing that found both of them guilty of a 32nd charge under AR232(i) for failing to comply with processes and directions of stewards or PRAs.
The initial probe against the professional jockey heard that two former NRL stars and a cricket player had exchanged text messages with Mr Hyeronimus. The latter became the subject of an investigation when stewards of the local gambling regulatory body seized his phone for forensic examination after a Randwick race in 2019.
Under the allegations unveiled by stewards, the jockey sent a total amount of about AU$30,000 to Blake Paine in a little more than two years, from June 22nd, 2016 to November 26th, 2018. Most transactions were carried out by either bank transfers under “savings” or “gift” tags but the regulatory body found that the money was used to fund placing wagers on races through the SportsBet account of Mr Paine. The bets ranged from AU$100 to AU$1,000.
Jockey Was Also Charged with Giving Misleading or False Evidence to Racing Regulator’s Investigators
At the time when the ruling against the Australian jockey and his cousin was released, the investigators also published some of the text messages, which Mr Hueronimus and Mr Paine had exchanged. In one of these messages, Paine said that he would bet on Limbo Soul to win the Golder Slipper trophy after making her debut and winning the race.
According to stewards, who led the probe, the two men later considered communicating via Snapchat, as the messages and pictures are only available on the platform for a while before disappearing.
The jockey also faced charges with giving false or misleading evidence to stewards, who investigated the case.
A few days ago, Paul O’Sullivan, the legal representative of Mr Hyeronimus, told stewards that any penalty larger than the minimum two-year ban would equal “a death sentence” for his client’s career. As the jockey’s lawyer explained at the time, Hyeronimus wanted the chance to be part of the racing industry again, once he had been involved in it his entire working life.
The penalty of Mr Hyeronimus will cover a 3-year period and will be effective not only in Australia but also worldwide. As explained by his legal representative, the jockey will consider his appeal options at the time when the verdict is finally unveiled.
- Author
Daniel Williams
