Former Victorian jockey Lewis German has been slapped with a ten-year ban from racing after getting caught up in a massive illegal betting scheme that raked in over AU $250,000 ($158,000) by betting against his own rides.
According to Racing.com, the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT) delivered its decision on Tuesday (Mar. 18), following an investigation that uncovered professional punter Noah Brash had placed 89 lay bets, totaling nearly AU $2.5 million ($1.58 million), on 37 horses ridden by German from April 21 to August 31, 2022.
Around 87 of those bets were successful, bringing in a $259,494 profit from bookmakers. Despite the damning numbers, German insists he didn’t pocket a cent from the scheme.
Illegal betting charges against Victorian jockey Lewis German
German was hit with multiple charges, but the most severe one, Charge 4, accused him of behavior that damaged the integrity and image of racing.
Racing Victoria stewards initially pushed for a 15-year ban, arguing that the offense was severe and had seriously hurt the sport’s reputation.
The VRT heard that about a month before the betting scandal began, German failed to report an offer from punter and jockey valet Jacob Foltynowicz, who allegedly offered him AU $5000 ($3162) to deliberately underperform on Gold Gift at Towong in March 2022.
German claimed he never took the money, but his failure to report the approach led to Charge 1, which states that jockeys are required to inform stewards of any such conversations.
Charge 2 was about German giving false and misleading statements regarding whether he had betting accounts. The VRT found that he failed to disclose that he had two betting accounts.
Originally, German was facing four charges, but Charge 3, which accused him of supplying information to Brash, was dropped since it was essentially covered under Charge 4.
The tribunal decided on a ten-year disqualification, believing it was a fitting punishment for what German had done while also sending a strong message to others.
‘I have not received any money’
German told the trial: “I am not here to tell a sad story. I am here to apologize to the racing community and to everyone who trusted in me. I feel like I let them down.
“I have not received any money. I believed there was going to be money. I was told that I would be paid at the start but I was probably gullible at the time.”
Adrian Anderson, representing local stewards, said the case struck “at the heart of the image and integrity of the racing industry.”
Anderson said that a 20-year ban would have been justified given the seriousness of the case, but considering German’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors, a ten-year ban was fair.
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