12-year ban for former jockey who deliberately lost races
A former jockey has been banned from racing for 12 years.
Darren Egan was banned by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) after being part of a “conspiracy” involving two horses not running on their merits.
Mr Egan, a former apprentice rider, was involved in a plan with gambler Philip Langford, enabling the latter to reportedly profit £53,560 on Betfair, from stakes totalling £838,870.
Mr Egan was found to have deliberately lost races at Chepstow on Imperial Spirit and Bath on Tregereth in July 2013 and for breaching corruption and fraud rules.
Mr Langford laid bets [bet on horses to lose] ridden by Mr Egan between 17 June and 16 July 2013.
The conspiracy was discovered by the online betting site when it noted unusual activity on Mr Langford’s account.
The BHA said it was a “conspiracy that struck at the heart of the sport”.
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In a letter sent to the BHA in November the 24-year-old jockey claimed he knew it was wrong but that he “needed the money desperately”.
Mr Egan was found guilty of corruption in November, but the BHA published details of the ban this month.
He is suspended until 22 November 2027.
Mr Langford, labelled the “instigator of the conspiracy” was handed an exclusion order for an “indefinite period”, with a minimum of 15 years.
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“It can of course be said on Egan’s behalf that he was relatively young, that he was still an apprentice, and that the corruption was initiated and pushed forward by Mr Langford,” read a BHA statement.
“But Egan was a willing participant. In his email, he explains that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
“The panel was unable to see any reason for mitigation in that or in anything else of which the panel was aware.”
Mr Egan has not ridden in Britain since 2013.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.