Stewards hand down hefty penalty to Hyeronimus
Group 1-winning jockey Adam Hyeronimus has been banned for three years over a long-running betting scandal.
Hyeronimus, who rode his first group 1 winner during this year's Sydney autumn carnival, was found guilty by stewards on 30 of 31 betting charges which accused him of facilitating bets through a Sportsbet account of his cousin, licensee Blake Paine.
Adam Hyeronimus will appeal a lengthy disqualification. Credit:Adam McLean
Two of the bets were on horses Hyeronimus rode in races, including well-backed debutant Limbo Soul which won for Tim Martin.
The initial inquiry heard a champion cricketer and two former NRL stars had exchanged text messages with Hyeronimus, who was the subject of a probe when stewards seized his phone for forensic examination following a race at Randwick on Anzac Day last year.
Stewards claimed Hyeronimus sent approximately $30,000 to Paine from a period starting on June 22 in 2016 and ending on November 26 in 2018.
The majority were sent as either bank transfers under "gift" or "savings" and the regulator deemed that money was used to fund betting through Paine's online account.
In releasing their guilty verdict, stewards released a raft of text messages between Hyeronimus and Paine, which included one where Paine said he would try to back Limbo Soul to win the Golden Slipper after her debut win.
Paine told Hyeronimus via text: "You slot the slipper il f…..n lose my cool."
Stewards claimed the pair later discussed communicating via Snapchat, a platform where pictures and messages are only available for a short time before disappearing.
Hyeronimus was also charged with giving false or misleading evidence.
Hyeronimus' lawyer Paul O'Sullivan told stewards last Thursday said any penalty beyond the mandatory minimum two-year disqualification would "effectively be a death sentence" for Hyeronimus' career.
"There should be a light at the end of it all for someone who has been involved in racing his whole working life," O'Sullivan said. "He wants the chance to come back into the industry again."
The 30-year-old third generation jockey enjoyed a career best season last term, riding his maiden major winner on Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's Shout The Bar in the Vinery Stud Stakes.
Racing NSW is expected to announce the Hyeronimus penalty later on Tuesday.
Hyeronimus will consider his appeal options.
More to come