Australian jockey Nash Rawiller has been disqualified for 15 months for illegally providing race betting tips.
As reported by The Age, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has disqualified Australian jockey for 15 months due to his association with horse race betting.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club charged Rawiller for betting or facilitating “the making of a bet or have any interest in a bet on any race or any contingency relating to a race meeting.”
“The particulars of this charge being that on diverse occasions whilst licensed as a jockey by the Hong Kong Jockey Club he did have an interest in bets on horses which he rode at race meetings conducted by the club, such bets being facilitated by people known to him,” the club continued.
Rawiller, who denied the charges, was accused of tipping horses he had ridden by HKJC stewards. The Australian jockey rode over 2000 winners and won the two-year-old triple crown, spending the past four seasons in Hong Kong.
“There was no evidence before the stewards that N Rawiller had ridden any horse in Hong Kong with the intention other than to obtain the best possible placing for the horse,” the club said in a statement. “Further, the evidence before the stewards was that N Rawiller had only tipped horses ridden by him and never horses he had ridden against.”
Australian jockey Chris Munce was the last jockey to be convicted of a betting offence in Hong Kong. Munce spent over three years in jail for bribery.
“The club’s handling of this matter demonstrates the expert nature and strength of the club’s systems for the prevention and detection of breaches of the rules of racing, and our unwavering resolve to ensure the highest standards of the integrity in Hong Kong racing,” HKJC executive director of racing Andrew Harding said.
Rawiller has been banned for 15 months and will not be able to ride at Happy Valley or Sha Tin.