'Big gambler' Sean McBride denies involvement in Danny Brock corruption case

Betting patterns, phone records and bank statements were the focus on the second day of a major disciplinary hearing into allegations of corruption relating to races involving former jockey Danny Brock.

Brock, who chose not to attend the first two days of the independent inquiry citing fears for his and his family's safety, is accused of being involved in corrupt or fraudulent practices alongside Sean McBride, Luke Olley, Luke Howells, Eugene Maloney and Andrew Perring.

Brock is said to have breached four BHA rules, including communicating inside information and not riding horses to achieve their best possible placings, in nine races between December 2018 and September 2019.

On Wednesday, Louis Weston, representing the BHA, alleged that "extraordinary betting" patterns offered strong evidence that three of Brock's rides in those all-weather contests were "stopping ones" as part of a "horseracing conspiracy", including two aboard Mochalov.

The other involved Samovar, who finished second at 2-1 in a match race at Southwell in March 2019. Weston argued the former jockey deliberately broke slowly and did not correct his mount when he veered to the left before finishing ten lengths behind Tricky Dicky, said to have been backed by Perring, Maloney, Howells and McBride.

McBride, son and assistant trainer to his father Charlie, was the only member of those involved to attend the opening two days. He argued Samovar had a clear history of missing the break, and said: "He is unbalanced when he jumps out of the stalls and takes some time to organise himself but by then it's too late to make up the ground."

He then provided bank statements to show it was not uncommon for him to stake thousands of pounds and told the panel he had a history of having to get others to place bets for him due to restrictions on his betting accounts. They include Olley, who McBride described as a "big gambler" capable of spreading bets around to ensure the best value.

"I've always been a big gambler," added McBride, who said he soon hopes to take over his father's licence. "The sums of money involved are large for many, but they are stakes I can afford to play with."

After placing a number of bets on races involving Brock at Lingfield on March 6, when the majority of trainers boycotted the meeting, McBride argued he was "chasing his money" when he placed a bet worth thousands of pounds on Tricky Dicky the following day. He also maintained he had not been encouraged to back the horse following two calls with Brock, which he told the panel were "not suspicious".

Drawing on extensive betting records, Weston argued McBride often placed bets using inside information and almost exclusively backed horses trained by his father or ridden by Brock during the period in question.

He also pointed to the fact Perring, Howells and Maloney all placed significant bets on Tricky Dicky on the day of the race, but McBride maintained he was not involved and did not encourage them to bet.

After the race, phone records showed McBride tried to contact Brock and Olley. He claims he called the latter to put a bet on Simba Samba at Chelmsford on March 8. Weston accused McBride of passing inside information to Olley, who is said to have placed a £1,000 each-way bet on Resurrected. She was trained by McBride's father Charlie at the time and scored at 10-1 under Brock at Chelmsford in September 2019.

"I couldn't do it myself due to restricted accounts," said McBride. "We obviously got the trip wrong originally. She didn't look very good in her first three starts but she started to pick up and was going well."

This is not the first time Brock, whose first winner came in 2009, has faced disciplinary action. Three years ago, he was banned for seven days for using a modified whip on Resurrected in their Chelmsford victory. He claimed the elastic bands attached to his whip were left there in error and that he received death threats after the incident.

He has not ridden since receiving a 30-day ban for a series of whip offences in July 2021 after a disciplinary panel heard he broke the whip rules on one ride in every seven during the first half of the year.

Brock recorded three winners from 38 rides in 2021 and enjoyed his best season in 2014, when he partnered 27 winners from 218 rides.

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