Former jockey Danny Brock accused of giving "stopping rides" at corruption hearing

Former jockey Danny Brock was accused of giving "stopping rides" on which individuals linked to him were to profit by placing thousands of pounds in winning bets, a British Horseracing Authority independent inquiry was told on Wednesday.

It's claimed that Brock, who is no longer licensed, was at the heart of a conspiracy where he was alleged to have tipped off five co-defendants which of his mounts would be ridden to win and which would not.

In one of the races under suspicion, Brock finished second in a two-runner race at Southwell on which his co-accused staked significantly large bets on the odds-on favourite Tricky Dicky before beating Brock’s mount Samovar, which lost ten lengths at the start which it never recovered.

Brock declined to take part in the hearing after the panel turned down his request to have the case heard in private citing fears a public session would lead to threats against him and his family.

The only participant was Sean McBride, the son of Newmarket trainer Philip McBride, who denies involvement in corrupt or fraudulent practices. Andrew Perring, Eugene Maloney, Luke Olley and Luke Howells, who face the same charge, did not attend.

Outlining the case on behalf of the BHA, barrister Louis Weston told the hearing: “Mr Brock told bettors that he was going to ride a horse normally or ride a horse well and they backed him. He then told them when he was going to stop a horse and when he did that, they either laid the horse or they bet on his opponent in a match race.

“So the conspiracy we allege against all of the persons charged before the inquiry is that they engaged or joined in a conspiracy to commit a fraudulent or corrupt practice against the rules of racing.”

He alleged that Brock passed on inside information that he was “prepared to stop” the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Muchalov in races at Lingfield in December 2018 and Chelmsford in March 2019 and Samovar at Southwell, also in March 2019.

“We say in fact he did, and that they would use that information to make bets and gains on the betting market,” said Weston.

He said Brock had been given every opportunity to contest the charges against him and by not attending was “either using the excuse of publicity as a shield to avoid questioning or because he simply doesn’t have a good answer.”

Weston described betting on these races as “extraordinary” and said that ahead of the Southwell match race, Perring, Maloney and McBride placed their largest ever bets on Tricky Dicky.

“Those three accounts, all connected to Brock, took 51.44 per cent of the profit on the Sportsbook market of Betfair,” he said. “So between the three of them they took half the market.” Howells too had his biggest win backing Tricky Dicky on the Betfair Exchange.

“I say the fact that there is this extraordinary betting is strong support that the rides themselves were going to be stopping rides,” he said, adding that in six other races before the inquiry, in which Brock rode to win, the accused placed back bets.

“When the horse is going to put up a proper performance they back and when the horse is going be stopped, or there is an agreement that it will be stopped, they lay.”