Damien Oliver
Yesterday at almost the same time two men who had done a bad thing, one very much worse than the other, used almost identical excuses.
In Sydney Paul Douglas Peters, the so-called “Collar bomb hoaxer” was sentenced to 13 years in jail for the 10 hours of sheer terror and year of tough recovery he unleashed on 18-year-old schoolgirl Madeleine Pulver in her family home last year.
In Melbourne champion jokey Damien Oliver copped an 8-month ban from racing after he admitted betting $10,000 against his own ride - a cardinal sin of the track.
Continue reading "Two very different men with the same excuse" »
Eight months. That’s jockey Damien Oliver’s laughably soft penalty for bringing an entire sport into disrepute. He won’t even miss a Spring Carnival. That’s like suspending a football player for the off-season. What a joke.
In 2010, the AFL suspended a lowly interchange steward for a whole year after he placed a whopping total of $9 in bets. It was heavy-handed, but it sent the clear message that anyone employed by the AFL, no matter how tangentially, must not bet on it.
Racing had the chance to send an even stronger message today. When one of the most famous names in your sport bets the equivalent of an overseas trip on a rival horse, it’s a rare opportunity to go medieval.
Continue reading "Slapped with a feather when he should have been whipped" »
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mug says:
Ant - forgive me if this has already been covered but there are other questions surely. 1. Was this the only time he did it? (clearly we can’t take his word for it) 2. Compensation, clearly the slips would be long gone but if you’d bet on that race online… Read more »
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Melissa Mitchell says:
His brother would be so disgusted. “I think the more important question should be whether we should allow jockeys to bet?” This won’t be a popular comment, but I wish we could do away with the lot of it- the betting on any sport. Not only to stop cheats and… Read more »
Do you remember where you were when Damien Oliver won the Cup on Media Puzzle? I was at a particularly pissy lunch in Canberra and the room choked up as, struggling to keep it together, Oliver dedicated the win to his brother Jason, who had died a week before in a barrier trial.
Today, Oliver lines up on the equal favourite Americain. He stands accused of possibly the worst crime a jockey can commit – outlaying a $10,000 bet on a rival horse in a race at Moonee Valley in 2010. Let’s be clear on this: Oliver was on the second favourite, Europa Point, paying $3.80. He bet on Miss Octopussy ($2.30), the favourite and eventual winner, earning him $23,000. Oliver’s horse finished sixth.
Europa Point’s connections will rightly want to know if one of the country’s champion jockeys ran dead on their horse. There’s no proof yet to suggest he did – but they have a right to know if this was the case.
Continue reading "Why is this man riding the Melbourne Cup favourite?" »
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Louisa says:
Why do people not understand the concept of confession? He isn’t “innocent until proven guilty”. He CONFESSED! In a legal sense, in a court of law, that means you go straight to the sentence. No more ‘proving’ necessary. Read more »
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Al says:
james - so you are fine with a person gaining financial benefit from a sporting event when they are able to directly impact on the outcome of that sporting event by choosing to not perform? They may not be able to predict that they will win, but it IS quite… Read more »
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