Golden girl of racing ‘hit by foul-mouthed threats from a rival jockey’
WITH her army of social media followers and passionate post-race interviews, she is the golden girl of the ‘sport of kings’.
But now the lid has been lifted on a toxic row which has seen leading jockey Bryony Frost allegedly targeted with threats of harm and verbal abuse by a male rider a decade her senior over accusations of careless riding.
Robbie Dunne is accused of branding the 25-year-old a ‘f***ing whore’ and a ‘dangerous c***’ after one clash, according to a leaked report into a bitter dispute which has rocked the £3.3billion-a-year sport.
The Irishman allegedly shouted abuse and threatened to force her off the course following a second incident which saw his horse, Cillian’s Well, fall and be fatally injured. Miss Frost, whose father Jimmy won the 1989 Grand National, reportedly told the bullying probe the 36-year-old threatened her that ‘the next time we ride against each other I am going to hurt you’.
Dunne is also accused of standing naked in front of her in the men’s changing rooms when she was an amateur jockey, according to reports of the leak.
Details of the formal bullying probe emerged in January amid claims the spotlight on Miss Frost – who made history last year by becoming the first woman to win the King George VI Chase and has amassed 27,000 Instagram followers – had sparked jealousy from male riders.
It comes amid a period of unprecedented success for female riders, with Irish jockey Rachael Blackmore riding six winners at this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
According to a British Horseracing Authority report leaked to the Sunday Times, Miss Frost claims Dunne first lashed out at her verbally after a race in July last year. Dunne is said to have hurled abuse at her over her riding and threatened to ‘murder’ her – cut across her, in racing parlance – if she ever did the same thing to her again. Miss Frost is said to have told the BHA she ‘didn’t know what he was talking about’.
But two months later the pair raced each other on the same mounts, with Cillian’s Well breaking a shoulder in a fall and having to be euthanised.
In the weighing room after the race, Dunne is said to have blamed her and threatened to ‘put you through a wing’ – the rail marking the edge of the course – next time they competed.
Miss Frost reportedly told investigators that she ‘burst into tears’ later that day and ‘thought, “I don’t want to be here anymore”.’ According to the report, other jockeys reported such altercations were not unusual, telling investigators it was ‘not the done thing’ to complain formally, as Miss Frost had. Dunne is said to deny most of her allegations, but according to the paper the report concludes ‘that the conduct in question occurred as alleged and amounted to bullying and harassment’.
A disciplinary hearing will now take place. But last night lawyers for Dunne slammed the leak and claimed the BHA probe was ‘irredeemably compromised by conflicts of interest and partisanships’.
Yesterday the BHA said its investigation was ‘close to reaching its conclusion’ but it could not comment while it was ongoing.
It added that it was working on a code of conduct to ensure ‘appropriate behaviours are endorsed and bad behaviours are discouraged’. Miss Frost has not commented on the leak.