Horse rider Harry Bentley refutes accusations of rigging races
British Jockey Harry Bentley Receives Two-Month Ban and Fine from Hong Kong Jockey Club
Hong Kong, November 3, 2023 — British jockey Harry Bentley has been banned for two months and fined 35,411 Euros by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) for violating racing rule 155. This rule prohibits the sharing of information about a horse's current form, strengths, and weaknesses with unknown individuals.
The 31-year-old Bentley, who has a clean record, pleaded guilty to the violation but denied any involvement in betting or race manipulation. The HKJC, however, could not prove that Bentley received a bribe for match-fixing. As a result, he was given a relatively short suspension and fine.
Bentley's horses will be excluded from all races during his suspension, which ends on January 3, 2024. The fine, equivalent to 300,000 Hong Kong Dollars, will be a significant financial setback for the jockey.
This is not the first betting scandal to impact the horse racing industry. In 2021, Irish jockey Daniel Jack Smith received an 8-year ban and was excluded from all races after pleading guilty to 31 charges and admitting to placing bets on races he participated in between July 2019 and December 2020.
In a similar case this year, Brazilian jockeys Silvestre de Sousa and Vagner Borges were suspended for 10 months and 12 months, respectively, for their involvement in manipulating a race on April 26, 2023.
Horse racing has long been associated with heavy betting, with over $100 billion wagered annually. This creates incentives for race fixing and manipulation. Famous controversies like the poisoning of Isaac Burns Murphy or the Jockey Club's drug manipulation in the early 2000s illustrate key episodes revealing the vulnerabilities of horse racing to large-scale betting scandals.
Bentley, who spoke about his suspension on the social media platform X, claimed he was unaware of the rule violation and didn't know Hong Kong's racing rule 155. He plans to focus on preparing for the rest of the racing season and aims to give his best for his team, trainers, and the HKJC in the future.
The HKJC, as the governing body for horse racing in Hong Kong, has a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the sport. Bentley's case serves as a reminder that all participants must adhere to the rules to ensure fair competition and protect the reputation of the sport.
[1] Isaac Burns Murphy poisoning controversy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Murphy#Poisoning_controversy [2] Manipulation by Jockey Club members: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_UK_horse_racing_scandals [3] Annual wagering in horse racing: https://www.statista.com/topics/1125/horse-racing/ [4] Black Sox Scandal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal
This article was originally published in The Irish Independent.
- Online casinos in Germany, general-news, and crime-and-justice: Authorities are investigating allegations of race manipulation in online casinos in Germany, highlighting the need for stricter regulations to maintain the integrity of sports-betting, particularly in horse-racing and racing.
- sports: In a recent sports-betting scandal, a German online dealer was arrested for providing insider information about a horse's current form, strengths, and weaknesses to unknown individuals, violating racing rules similar to those enforced by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
- sports-betting, racing, and horse-racing: As horse-racing and sports-betting continue to attract billions annually, it is crucial for racing authorities worldwide to implement stringent measures to combat corruption and maintain fair competition in racing events.
