Burner phones, fake names, secret betting accounts and wads and wads of cash: How a top jockey's son ran a race rigging syndicate - and has now paid a huge price for it

The jockey lad of a erstwhile champion Melbourne rider has been banned for 13 years aft helium made his horses suffer to rake successful immense amerciable gambling profits. 

Michael Poy, 25, was handed the agelong disqualification - which has astir surely ended his racing vocation - by the Victorian Racing Tribunal connected Thursday.

Poy, lad of erstwhile apical Victorian jockey Michael Clarke, was cardinal to a blase punting scam with others including erstwhile apprentice jockey, Lewis German.

The brace were hooked successful with disgraced nonrecreational punter Noah Brash who plotted unneurotic to marque wealth connected 'lay bets', a benignant of betting wherever punters instrumentality connected the relation of bookie and backmost a equine to lose.

The sinister trio utilized burner phones, fake names, encrypted messaging and third-party 'bowler' betting accounts.

The crooks' purpose was for Poy and German to guarantee their mounts mislaid truthful the pack could marque casual profits. 

The scam was wildly successful, landing them a $350,000 windfall from much than $2.5million successful bets laid betwixt April 2022 and August 2022, the tribunal was told.

Brash offered inflated likelihood connected betting goliath Betfair, an online bookie known for enabling punters to usage the arguable laic stake system.

The tribunal heard Brash offered $15 likelihood connected a equine priced astatine $8 elsewhere which gamblers jumped on, but past Poy and German ensured the equine mislaid - and the duped punters mislaid their cash.

In conscionable 1 race, the trio scored $18,000 successful little than 2 minutes aft betting connected a low-level state Victorian lawsuit connected August 7, 2022.

German ensured his equine American Russ lost, portion Poy had to marque definite his equine Mr Scofield finished up of German's to let Brash to cod connected a 'head-to-head' bet.

Brash laid 135 bets successful full connected horses ridden by Poy and German and lone 2 lost. 

Former AFL shot brag Adrian Anderson, a salient lawyer representing Racing Victoria stewards, told the tribunal the behaviour was 'not thoughtless, careless oregon adjacent reckless'. 

'It was a deliberate, elaborate strategy designed to debar detection by the usage of concealed messaging with the usage of concealed phones and codification names,' Mr Anderson said.

'It was lone done the careless enactment of Mr Brash that the offending was uncovered.'

The gang's crippled unravelled aft stewards discovered screenshots of encrypted messages connected Brash’s phone.

The screenshots revealed bets successful which Poy outlined the races, horses and amounts to beryllium wagered including 'Race 3, laic the 1 for 70/80 (thousand)' , 'Have 10K connected excavation to bushed his H2H (head to head)' and 'Race 8, laic the 2, 80k'.

Poy initially denied immoderate engagement but  investigators utilized information from Optus and Crown Casino which placed the jockey and the burner telephone unneurotic astatine the aforesaid time.

Tribunal seat Judge John Bowman said Poy had 'wilfully engaged successful behaviour that strikes astatine the precise bosom of the racing industry, that is its integrity, some existent and perceived'.

'Conduct specified arsenic yours has the capableness to inflict large harm upon the representation of racing and nationalist assurance successful its integrity,' Judge Bowman said. 

'It risks creating successful the minds of immoderate radical that ‘the crippled is rigged.'

Brash, who ran online tipping work Cannon, and Poy became adjacent mates erstwhile the jockey was 18 and German was hooked successful owed to his relationship with Poy.

The tribunal heard grounds Poy was 'the cardinal player' and 'link man' successful the treacherous plot.

Poy 'directed and co-ordinated' bets by sending encrypted messages connected burner phones utilizing the alias 'Leo'.

Brash was codenamed 'Blue Bull' during the clandestine communications.

Poy, who won 350 races aft leaving schoolhouse to go and apprentice jockey, was disqualified for 13 years and six months while Brash has been 'warned off' contention tracks for 10 years.

Judge Bowman said German, 27,  was 'vital to the full crooked operation' earlier past period handing him a ten-year suspension.

'You were progressive successful a ample standard operation, with precise large profits resulting from horses ridden by you not being allowed to contention connected their merits,' Judge Bowman said. 

'Indeed, you were not lone involved, you were cardinal and captious to the full crooked operation. 

'You did this successful the anticipation of being paid sizeable amounts of money, though you assertion that fundamentally this had not occurred arsenic astatine the clip that the cognition ceased.'

German hardly achieved thing successful racing but Poy's champion triumph came aboard Ancestry successful the listed G H Mumm Century Stakes astatine Flemington connected Oaks Day connected November 5, 2020.

The disgraced jockey's celebrated dada Michael Clarke was acold much palmy connected the racetrack, winning the Victorian jockey's premiership 4 times.

Clarke was astir celebrated for winning the Cox Plate and the Japan Cup connected champion Aussie equine Better Loosen Up successful 1990. 

Clarke besides won the 1986 Melbourne Cup connected At Talaq.

The disqualifications and atrocious publicity comes arsenic the Championships Carnival astatine Sydney's Randwick kicks disconnected Saturday with classics the Doncaster Mile and The TJ Smith Stakes - besides known arsenic the Cox Plate for sprinters.

Many of Australia's champion horses including Ceolwulf, Via Sistina, Autumn Glow and Treasurethe Moment volition beryllium competing for Group 1 glory and monolithic prize money.

UK champion Dubai Honour volition besides beryllium competing successful the Queen Elizabeth Stakes connected April 12.

Poy, German and Brash volition beryllium taking nary portion successful the three-week showcase carnival.