Jamie Osborne handed three-month suspended ban for taking inappropriate photograph on a racecourse

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Jamie Osborne has received a three-month suspended sentence of his training licence after taking a photograph of a woman’s bottom at a racecourse last summer with the intention of uploading it to a WhatsApp group he was part of named ‘Great Bums’.

Osborne, 58, was caught taking a photograph of a woman’s clothed bottom in the paddock before a race at an evening meeting last summer, and was reported to stewards on the day.

Having initially denied taking any photograph, Osborne, whose daughter Saffie, 24, is fifth in the Flat jockeys’ championship, said he had done so but had then permanently deleted it when confronted. 

Osborne, a Group 1-winning trainer, apologised to the woman, referred to as Person A in a disciplinary panel ruling published on Friday, and her companion, referred to as Person B.

The ruling stated: “The incident caused substantial embarrassment and upset to Person A and Person B. Each of them felt that the initial response of Mr Osborne was to seek to downplay the conduct, and both stated that they would not wish for any other participant in the sport of horseracing to have this happen to them, particularly a young woman. 

“Both expressed the view that it was not conduct to be expected of a respected trainer in the industry.”

Jamie Osborne: took a picture of a woman's bottom at the races last year to post in a WhatsApp groupCredit: Edward Whitaker

A further interview between the BHA and Osborne took place three weeks after the incident, where the trainer said he had taken the photograph of the woman’s bottom with the “intention of sharing it on a WhatsApp chat group of which he was a member and which had a name of ‘Great Bums’ or similar”, according to the ruling.

Osborne, a former leading jump jockey, added during the interview that it was “obvious” that due to the name of the group “it was not the only occasion on which he had taken photographs of women without their consent to post on the chat”, although the panel was given no further examples of people in racing who had been photographed. The group has since been disbanded.

In reaching a decision to suspend Osborne’s licence, the disciplinary panel, which elected to conducted the review of the plea agreement between the BHA and the trainer in private, said it was “satisfied that the taking of the photograph was unwanted conduct which was sexual in nature and which had the effect of violating the dignity of Person A”.

It also said it took into consideration "the evidence of upset, embarrassment, distress and shock to Person A and her subsequent nervousness in attending race fixtures and concern that images had been shared with what she considered were likely to be older men".

However, the panel added it did not equate to “concrete examples of ‘sexual misconduct’ in the code of conduct” and was of a less serious nature as a consequence.

Jamie Osborne: apologised for his conductCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The panel stated it had been told that as Osborne trained 80 racehorses and employed 30 staff the removal of his licence would likely have lead to "the yard having to close at short notice and would probably mean an end to the business". Osborne had also argued in mitigation that the case had caused him embarrassment, which the panel dismissed as he had "brought that upon himself".

As well as being given a suspended three-month training ban – which will be activated if he breaches racing's code of conduct within the next six months – Osborne will be required to undergo anti-sexual harassment training, anti-misogyny training, and make a £3,000 donation to a charity associated with racing. In addition, he is required to provide a written apology to Person A and Person B.

In a statement on Friday, Osborne said: “I completely accept the BHA judgement and I would like to repeat my heartfelt and genuine apology for my actions.”

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