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13 May 2023
De Sousa and Borges handed lengthy bans
The Brazilian champion jockeys have been disqualified from riding for their involvement in placing a bet on a horse Borges rode at Happy Valley last month.
Betting activity around a race at Happy Valley on April 26 has resulted in significant bans for two jockeys. (Photo by Lo Chun Kit)
Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards have handed Silvestre de Sousa a 10-month ban and Vagner Borges a 12-month disqualification after the jockeys pleaded guilty to a charge of betting or facilitating a bet.
A Jockey Club-issued press release stated that the two Brazilian riders had breached the Club’s Rule 59 (3): De Sousa’s disqualification will end on March 12, 2024 and Borges will be able to resume riding two months later, on May 12.
Borges was guilty of ‘having an interest in a bet’ on his own mount, the Dennis Yip-trained Young Brilliant, in an 1800m Class 3 handicap at Happy Valley on April 26. The horse was an $18.0 chance and finished seventh.
De Sousa, a three-time champion jockey in Britain and currently fifth in the Hong Kong premiership with 45 wins for the season, pleaded guilty to the charge that he ‘did facilitate Jockey Borges having an interest in a bet’ on Young Brilliant, a horse owned by the HKJC Racing Club Ltd.
Thriller in the Korea Racing Authority Trophy! La City Blanche edges Majestic Victory to lead a Tony Cruz one-two finish in the feature under @zpurton. 🏆#HappyWednesday | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/eAHMYByAK6
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) April 26, 2023
The stewards took into consideration both jockeys’ guilty pleas and their hitherto ‘unblemished’ records regarding betting offences.
Borges, 30, is a four-time champion in Brazil and arrived in Hong Kong in the spring of 2020. He has since compiled a modest tally of 57 wins at a win strike rate of around five percent. This season he had put together seven wins at a winning rate of 2.83 percent.
