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Bryony Frost's accusations lay bare ugly secrets of the weighing room
A bitter civil war has erupted in horse racing following the leaking of an explosive report into allegations that one of Britain's leading female jockeys was bullied and harassed.
The British Horseracing Authority was accused of a “self-serving siege mentality” after extracts of Bryony Frost’s five-page statement were published, including the allegation that fellow jockey Robbie Dunne would stand in front of her naked in the men’s changing room.
Frost also reportedly alleged that, after a race at Stratford in July 2020, Dunne “said something on the lines of, ‘You’re a f---ing whore, you’re a dangerous c---’, and ‘If you ever f---ing murder [cut across] me like that again, I’ll murder you’.”
Following another race later that year, Dunne is also alleged to have threatened to “hurt” Frost.
The term “murder” is used by jockeys to describe a rider cutting across them or taking their ground.
Stewards found no fault with Frost’s riding after either race.
In his statement to the BHA’s investigator Chris Watts, Dunne denied using the words “whore” or “c---” when he complained to Frost about her racing style.
Watts’s report, which was leaked to The Sunday Times, runs to more than 120 pages and concludes that “on the balance of probabilities” Dunne’s conduct did amount to bullying and harassment.
The report was submitted in April when Dunne was notified of formal charges against him, including “conduct prejudicial to the integrity or good reputation” of the sport. A disciplinary hearing is imminent but Dunne’s solicitor, Daryl Cowan, now believes that the leaking of “all or the majority” of case paper had made it impossible for the 42-year-old to get a fair hearing.
“The BHA has completely lost control of this case,” said Cowan. “It has adopted a self-serving siege mentality, with a callous disregard of the welfare of my client and his family. The data breach has come on the back of an investigation that has been irredeemably compromised by conflicts of interest and partisanships.
“Pretty much every rule of professional and neutral evidence gathering has been broken, including the misrepresentation and selective editing of witness testimony.
“It [the BHA] has acted in a manner which is high-handed and oppressive. Much the biggest scandal for racing here has been the utterly inept and flawed investigation. A fair trial before a panel after trial by media is impossible.”
Cowan said that the BHA had admitted privately that the leak may have originated from inside its own integrity department and that it had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
He highlighted the “mysterious circumstances” surrounding Watts’s recent departure as the BHA’s head of integrity and called its integrity unit “unfit for purpose”.
The BHA said that documentation had been “shared in confidence with a number of relevant parties” and that the source of the leak was being investigated. “The BHA does not comment on the details of ongoing investigations,” said a spokesperson. “Separately, racing is not immune to issues around conduct and behaviours which are prevalent in all aspects of society.”
According to the leaked report, Frost made her complaint in September 2020 and Dunne was formally interviewed by Watts in December. Dunne agreed that there were difficulties between him and Frost but attributed this to her style of riding.
He alleged Frost’s riding had caused his horse, Cillian’s Well, to fall and be fatally injured in a race at Southwell.
Frost suggested the ill-feeling stretched back to when she was an amateur jockey. She turned professional in 2017, aged 22. “I recall being in the men’s changing room and he would stand in front of me naked,” she reportedly alleged. “None of the other jockeys were like that. I would try my hardest to avoid him at all times. As I became more established in the weighing room and gained more confidence, I spoke out. I told him that his behaviour was inappropriate, and to leave me alone.”
She highlighted a series of incidents between July and September last year. After a race at Southwell when Dunne fell four fences from the finish while riding Cillian’s Well, she alleged in the report that he approached her in the weighing room and threatened to “put you through a wing [the rail marking the edge of the course],” on the next occasion they raced. When she asked what his problem was, she said that he promised to “hurt” her the next time they rode in the same race.
“I became very worried for my safety,” said Frost’s statement. “I couldn’t take his bullying and threats any more.”
When this allegation was put to Dunne, he reportedly replied: “Well, it was like, ‘I’ll put you through a wing and you’ll probably get', not that 'You'll get hurt' but 'If you get hurt it's the only way you're gonna learn cos you're repeatedly doing this', not that ‘I’m going to hurt you’.”
Dunne reportedly also alleged that he received a phone call in which the caller alluded to his problems with Frost and threatened to break his legs.
The fall that was suffered by Cillian’s Well was investigated and “the stewards were unanimous in finding that there was zero evidence to suggest that Miss Frost had ridden in a dangerous manner, let alone committed any offence”.
The authors of the report concluded that “there is a cultural issue in which threatening behaviour is condoned and not reported in the weighing room” and that it had been difficult for the BHA to gather witness statements from people who heard their exchanges. Both Frost and Dune declined to comment on the case or any of the allegations in the leaked report.
