Trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing has been fined HK$300,000 after pleading guilty to providing inside information about three horses in his yard.
Shum was charged with breaching Rule 155 (17), which states no person shall “give, disclose or otherwise make available any inside information in relation to a horse.”
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Jockey Club chief steward Marc van Gestel confirmed Shum made “privileged information available to persons not entitled to receive such information, in respect to three horses he was training”.
Van Gestel outlined that privileged information was defined as “information about the likely performance of a horse in a race which is not publicly available”.
“In determining penalty, the stewards took into consideration the nature of the rule breached, the degree of culpability and relevant mitigating factors,” the statement said.
“In this regard, Mr Shum’s conduct was not an intentional breach of the rule and did not include any serious misconduct where he received any benefit. The breaches were of a historical nature, occurring soon after an amendment to Rule 155 (17). Mr Shum’s guilty plea and cooperation with the investigation. His unblemished record in relation to similar offences and good standing within the thoroughbred industry and community.”
Shum’s hefty fine comes two weeks before his stable star Romantic Warrior is due to run in the Group One Jebel Hatta (1,800m) in Dubai on January 24.
His HK$300,000 charge is the largest penalty handed out to a trainer in nearly three years.
At the start of 2022, Frankie Lor Fu-chuen and Dennis Yip Chor-hong were both hit with HK$600,000 fines after breaching the Jockey Club’s Covid-19 protocols.
Lor was fined for hosting two family gatherings while Yip was found to have had lunch at a public restaurant.
In 2019, two assistant trainers were among the six licensed Jockey Club staff members arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption for passing “privileged information” to an illegal bookmaking ring.
Inside information was passed from four stable staff and two assistant trainers to assist the underground bookmaking operation.
In the jockey ranks, Harry Bentley was the most recent rider to face a substantial charge in November 2023.
The British jockey was handed a HK$300,000 fine and a two-month suspension for improper conduct.
Bentley pleaded guilty to “inappropriate communications, agreeing to accept a payment and providing false or misleading statements”.
His significant suspension came only months after Silvestre de Sousa and Vagner Borges pleaded guilty to betting offences.
Borges was banned for 12 months by the Jockey Club stewards after having “an interest in a bet” on $18 chance Young Brilliant when he rode the four-year-old into seventh at Happy Valley in April 2023, while De Sousa was outed for facilitating the bet.
