Jockey Poy handed 13-year ban by Racing Victoria for betting offences

A Racing Victoria Tribunal judge has handed former Victoria-based jockey Michael Poy a 13-year ban for his part in an illegal betting scheme involving another jockey, a registered horse owner, and a professional horse racing punter.

Racing Victoria stewards uncovered the scheme and Poy’s role in it last autumn. However, the events for which Poy and his co-conspirators were charged occurred between December 2022 and July 2023.

Scheme explained

In May 2024, Racing Victoria accused Poy and fellow Western Australian jockey Lewis German of violating Racing Victoria betting rules. The organisation also alleged that the jockeys had “made a false or misleading statement” regarding an ongoing investigation.

A month later, a Racing Victoria Tribunal revealed that both Poy and German had colluded with registered horse owner Alysha Vass and professional punter Noah Brash to manipulate horse racing betting markets.

The Tribunal introduced text messages, showing that German, Poy, and Brash had colluded to wager over $100,000 at betting sites on horses connected to the jockeys.

“Have 10K on mine,” one text from Poy to Brash said. Another instructed the punter to wager $12,000 on a horse Poy would be riding.

“46 times out of 46 rides”

Despite the strong evidence from texts and betting apps receipts against him, Poy tried to argue that he was only advising Brash on how to bet. He claimed that he was not in any way affecting the outcome of his races.

Poy also pointed out that he was not paid for his advice.

Tribunal chair Judge John Bowman dismissed each of the jockey’s arguments.

“(It is) difficult to accept you were only advising Brash what horses to back and get beaten,” the judge said, “46 times out of 46 rides you were right.

“We say ‘paper profit’ in relation to your case because in essence you’re saying you received no money from him.

“You say you advised Mr Brash what horses to back and get beaten but the bets … were his and not yours.

“We find this difficult to accept, your messages to Mr Brash not only name the horses to back but also the amount of such bet, whether or not you received in return the correct amount of money may be another matter.”

Detrimental to the image of horse racing

In addition to being found guilty of intentionally underperforming, Judge Bowman also found Poy guilty of conduct detrimental to the image of horse racing.

“The fact remains you wilfully engaged in behaviours that strike at the heart of the racing industry,” Bowman said.

“It’s integrity, both real and perceived, conduct such as yours has the capacity to inflict great damage on the image of racing and public perception… and risks creating in the minds of some people that ‘the game is rigged’.

“This is a possible perception stewards as well as your former jockey colleagues fight hard to combat and destroy.”

In light of the evidence, Poy admitted guilt and accepted his 13-year ban.