Former licensed apprentice jockey Darren Egan and non-registered person Philip Langford have been informed that they have been charged with breaches of the Rules of Racing, as follows.
A date for the hearing will be announced in due course.
Darren Egan
1. Did Darren Egan between 17 June 2013 and 16 July 2013 (the ‘Relevant Period’) act in breach of Rules (A)41.2 and/or (A)41.1 in that he conspired with Philip Langford to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to racing and then committed such a practice by:
a. Agreeing to ride and then riding Imperial Spirit on 12 July 2013 and/or Tregereth on 16 July 2013 in breach of Rule (B)58.1; and/or
b. Agreeing to ride other of his rides in the Relevant Period in breach of Rule (B)58.1 if the need to ride the horse other than on its merits arose; and/or
c. Communicating directly or indirectly to Philip Langford and/or other betting exchange account holders information relating to the prospects of his rides and/or the rides of Laura Pike in the relevant period which information was, or included information, (i) obtained in his capacity as a Rider of those rides and/or (ii) which was not publicly available or authorised for such disclosure by the Rules of Racing (‘Inside Information’) knowing that (i) and (ii) were the case and knowing that such information would or might be used to gain an unfair advantage in the betting market? And/or
2. Did Darren Egan in the Relevant Period act in breach of Rule (A)36 in that he communicated directly or indirectly to one or more betting exchange account holders for material reward, gift, favour or benefit in kind, information relating to the prospects of his rides and/or the rides of Laura Pike which was or included Inside Information knowing such information was Inside Information? And/or
3. Did Darren Egan act in breach of Rule (B)58.1 in relation to his ride of Imperial Spirit on 12 July 2013 and/or Tregereth on 16 July 2013 by intentionally failing to ensure that the horse was run on its merits?
Philip Langford
1. Did Philip Langford between 17 June 2013 and 16 July 2013 act in breach of Rules (A)41.2 and/or (A)41.1 in that he conspired with Darren Egan to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to racing and then committed such a practice by:
a. Encouraging or causing Darren Egan to ride Imperial Spirit on 12 July 2013 and/or Tregereth on 16 July 2013 in breach of Rule (B)58.1; and/or
b. Agreeing with Darren Egan that he would ride other of his rides in the Relevant Period in breach of Rule (B)58.1 if the need to do so arose to secure the success of his betting; and/or
c. Encouraging or causing Darren Egan to pass Inside Information in respect of his rides and/or the rides of Laura Pike; and/or
d. Using the Inside Information obtained from Darren Egan to gain an unfair advantage on the betting exchanges and to place lay bets in the win and/or place markets on betting exchanges.
And/or
2. Did Philip Langford between 17 June 2013 and 16 July 2013 (the ‘Relevant Period’) act in breach of Rule (A)37 in that he encouraged, assisted or caused Darren Egan to act in breach of:
a. Rule (A)36 by offering to provide or providing a reward, gift, favour or benefit in kind to Darren Egan in return for the provision by Darren Egan to him of Inside Information in relation to some or all of the rides of Darren Egan and/or Laura Pike; and/or
b. Rule (B)58.1 by offering a reward to Darren Egan for riding his horses other than on their merits if the need to do so arose to secure his lay betting.
Notes for Editors:
1. There are 30 races in which suspicious activity has been detected. The BHA has not attempted to analyse each and all betting on all of those 30 races but rather has analysed the general skew of Langford’s betting and the betting on his highest liabilities, as well as some other races where there are notable issues e.g. the alleged running and riding offences. As such a table of races is not being published with these charges.
2. The charges refer to rides of Laura Pike within the Relevant Period. It is the BHA’s case that Darren Egan was communicating information relating to these rides and there are no charges being placed against Laura Pike.
3. Darren Egan currently resides in the USA.
4. The BHA will not comment any further or release any further detail relating to these charges, pending the disciplinary hearing.
5. Details of the Rules in question and possible penalties are as follows:
(A)41 Involvement in corrupt or fraudulent practices in relation to racing
http://rules.britishhorseracing.com/Orders-and-rules&staticID=126207&depth=3
Entry point: Disqualify/Exclude 3 years
Range: 6 months – 10 years
(A)36 Communication of Inside Information
http://rules.britishhorseracing.com//Orders-and-rules&staticID=126201&depth=3
Entry point: Disqualify/Exclude 3 years
Range: 18 months – 5 years
(B)58 General requirement for a horse to be run on its merits and obtain best possible placing
http://rules.britishhorseracing.com//Orders-and-rules&staticID=126359&depth=3
The range applied depends on the finding by the Panel as to the circumstances, and the full table can be found on page 10 and 11 of the Guide to Procedures and Penalties
(A)37 Assisting, encouraging or causing Rule contraventions
http://rules.britishhorseracing.com/Orders-and-rules&staticID=126202&depth=3
For Penalty see Rule that was breached
