Earlier this week, a Standardbred trainer pleaded guilty to a charge of 'dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception' after he admitted to having defrauded a client of more than $25,000 over a five-year period for the breeding and training of a racehorse that did not exist.
An article on the situation by The Sydney Morning Herald explains that 58-year-old trainer Michael John Day of New South Wales, Australia pleaded guilty to the charge on Wednesday, February 3.
In 2015, the suspicious owner that had been bilked in the scheme eventually contacted NSW Harness Racing. The organization then investigated the complaint and found out that the the Standardbred in which the owner was paying for did not exist. NSW Harness Racing subsequently slapped Day with a 10-year suspension.
Day has conditioned horses for almost four decades, and became known to some worldwide audiences for having trained Gundary Flyer to a win in the Miracle Mile in 1982.
The article states that police are seeking $25,677 in restitution on behalf of the victim.
The magistrate that is presiding over the proceedings found Day guilty of the charge and has ordered the trainer to be assessed for an ‘intensive corrections order.’
(With files from the The Sydney Morning Herald)