National Hunt jockey Robbie Dunne has denied calling Britain’s leading female jump jockey a ‘c***’ and a ‘whore’, during a feud that stretches back four years.
Dunne has been accused of harassing, bullying and threatening Bryony Frost, using foul and misogynistic language at races around the country in the last year.
British Horseracing Association’s disciplinary panel has been hearing evidence. The case is based on a Frost complaint that was filed 15 months back.
It was revealed that the problems started when Dunne, a male jockey, stood naked before Frost in 2017. She protested. According to the male jockey, he simply left the sauna because it was shared with other female riders.
Dunne is accused of violating BHA rules at 3 events. These were at Stratford (July 8), Uttoxeter (August 17) and Southwell (3 September). All three are last year’s events where it is claimed he abused Frost.
Dunne, 36-years-old, was accused of mocking and bullying 26 year old female competitor.
Robbie Dunne, (L) was charged with verbally abusing (and threatening) Bryony Frost (R).
However, it is claimed the conflict escalated last year when he is used sexist language towards Frost and threatened to ‘put her through a wing [fence]’ and hurt her. Dunne had formed the view that Frost rode dangerously and she need to ‘learn’, it’s claimed.
At Stratford, the female rider says Dunne made a bee-line for her after the race and jabbed his finger at her calling her a ‘f****** whore’ and ‘dangerous c***’ for cutting him up on the course.
Dunne, however, in his testimony, which was part of the BHA hearing heard today, categorically denied that he used such language.
‘I had words with Miss Frost about the style of her riding being careless and dangerous,’ said Dunne.
‘I pointed so she knew my comments were directed at her and not the surrounding riders. I expressed my concern about her style of riding, and its potential dangers.
BHA claims Robbie Dunne (above), who won at Taunton this past month, threatened Frost to run through a fence on Southwell’s September 3, 2013 row.
‘I did not call her a whore or a c***. According to her statement, she said that she could recall what I had spoken.
‘I don’t remember the exact wording I used towards Ms Frost,’ added the jockey. ‘It was the heat of the moment following a race, but I did not use the explicit terms she alleges. I would never use the language that she suggests.’
Lawyer Roderick Moore, representing Dunne at the hearing, added: ‘As you can see Miss Frost, Mr Dunne is essentially saying he was angry he was cross, he pointed, he had words, he did not use the words like c*** or words at that level.’
In reply, Frost, whose evidence was under cross-examination, insisted she ‘strongly’ remembered what he had said and accused Dunne of not being accurate in his statement.
‘He has not said anything along the lines of what he did actually say to me,’ she added.
Dunne was racing in Newbury, January. He is accused of intimidating fellow jockey Bryony Frost
As well as questioning what was actually said in exchanges between the pair, Dunne’s representative also suggested that it was one rule for his client and another for other male jockeys when it came to Frost’s allegations.
He highlighted the fact that other male jockey’s teased Frost and one had even called her a ‘c***’, but said Moore, she had not seen that as bullying or harassment.
‘You made it clear that you don’t have a problem with that jockey [who called you a c***],’ said Mr Moore.
Frost is the British’s best female jump jockey
‘So a senior jockey calls you a c***, but that’s fine… Other jockeys tease you but that’s just teasing, it’s fine… But you say if Mr Dunne teases you that is somehow different?’
Frost was sometimes tearful when Dunne asked him questions.
‘There is a difference with Mr Dunne because it was happening frequently,’ she said. ‘And it wasn’t just a spur of the moment, heat of the moment, knee-jerk reaction, losing his temper for a second.
‘It was over a long period of time and that is why I am here. It never got better. It was never just once.’
Horse racing faces difficult questions after the hearing. The sport prides itself in the strength and safety of its weighing room where jockeys are supported and policed by each other. The sport also believes that it provides a platform where men and women are able to compete in equal fashion.
Frost’s allegations sparked an extensive investigation by the BHA, which resulted in a 120-page report. Frost stated that Dunne bullied other female jockeys in an interview.
Investigative team interviewed women riders to learn about their experiences.
Report Including claims by Frost that Dunne and Frost had ill feelings dating back to 2017
Moore presented evidence from a few of these women at the hearing. However, they did not support Frost’s claim. Some considered Mr Dunne to be ‘rude’ or ‘not to everyone’s taste’, but they said did not find him ‘inappropriate’ or ‘bullying’.
Frost said she accepted the accounts from the other women were ‘honest’, but she added: ‘They all have licences… so they will still have to be in the weighing room. The isolation I have found from speaking out, I would not wish on anyone…
‘They have to go into that weighing room every day and they are protecting themselves.’
Frost’s evidence and statements have highlighted instances in the races at Leicester, Market Rasen, where Frost claims she was the victim to Dunne’s aggressive riding. He rode up into Frost and squeezed her between the rails.
Moore said that Dunne denied any wrongdoing. Moore also noted that the Stewards had not interacted and Frost hadn’t filed a complain.
A lot of attention will also be paid to the weighing rooms and their culture.
‘I would not make a complaint to the stewards about Robbie,’ Frost replied. ‘I would be worried about what would happen when I walked back into the weighing room. It would not improve anything by going to the stewards, other than aggravating.’
However, in Frost’s account she did make a complaint after Dunne threatened to ‘put her through a wing [fence]’ at Southwell on September 3, 2020.
An exchange between the pair took place in the weighing room after Dunne’s mount, Cillian’s Well, fell and died, and the male jockey believed Frost was to blame
Frost said Dunne threatened Frost with a cool threat and she believed that he was trying to harm her.
Frost was seen racing at Hereford this month earlier in the month. It is said that Frost had to be reduced to tears.
Crying, Frost said: ‘He promised he would hurt me and I believed him. It was so true that he said it to me.
‘He was not angry, red faced, he delivered it and he wanted me to know exactly what he felt about me and what he wanted to do. He made it very clear.’
In contrast, Moore said a senior jockey in the weighing room had reported the exchange was ‘not out of the ordinary’.
Then he said, “You ought to have known this was an exchange of heat.”
Frost was asked by him whether Frost thought Dunne was mad at his horse’s passing. Dunne didn’t mention the fact that her horse died, and she said it to Dunne.
Dunne may be punished with a stiff fine or a prohibition from participating if found guilty.
The range of punishment for breaking Rule 19, acting in a way that is prejudicial to horse racing, is a fine of between £1,000 and £15,000 and a ban from one month to three years.
For breaching Rule 20, by acting in a violent of improper manner, the punishment is a ban up to 21 days and a fine of between £100 and £5,000.
Dunne denies every one of six allegations against him. He admits to having acted improperly at Southwell and that he has violated Rule 20. Hearings will continue on Monday.