A day after Australian ‘poster boy’ jockey Tommy Berry was banned for over a year, his sister-in-law Kayla Nisbet was hit with a two-month disqualification over links to a professional punter and racehorse owner known as ‘The Bear’.
Star rider Berry is facing being unable to ride until 2024 after being found guilty of receiving a consideration, which involved gambler Zaid Miller paying money into the jockey’s mother’s bank account after being given winning tips. He has since lodged an appeal.
Nisbet, whose sister Sharnee is married to Berry, was found to have links with another punter Jacob Hoffman, nicknamed ‘The Bear', after New South Wales stewards seized the mobile phones of both her and another rider Jack Martin last year.
She admitted receiving A$1,000 [£570] via an intermediary from Hoffman who had struck a number of bets on one of her winning rides in May 2021 after receiving information on the horse from Nisbet. She also pleaded guilty to giving false or misleading evidence.
Martin also had links to Hoffman and, though he denied passing him tips for which he received payment, he was nevertheless found guilty by the stewards panel. He also admitted accessing his brother’s betting account to place bets on nine occasions.
He was disqualified for four months and one week, after which he will serve a separate six-week suspension for the betting offences.
Hoffman admitted the charges relating to Nisbet but claimed he was not aware it was an offence to provide a jockey with a consideration. He was disqualified for a total of nine months and one week.
Nisbet, 28, who is based in Canberra, has ridden more than 560 winners in her career and Martin in excess of 240.
