Racing: Star jockey gains exemption to resume racing

Jockey Matt Cameron.

Star jockey Matt Cameron will return to race riding tomorrow after being granted an exemption from his racing ban for an indecent assault conviction.

Cameron had his riding licence revoked by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing after being convicted of indecent assault on an adult male in July 2021.

Cameron, who is openly gay, was sentenced to 90 hours of community work and ordered to pay $900 to his victim, who is not employed in the racing industry.

While not defending the incident, Cameron says he was drunk at the time and his actions, and the repercussions, caused him to change his life and behaviour. He has not drunk alcohol for 22 months.

Cameron had to be granted permission to enter a racecourse by an exemption committee made up of members of all three racing codes and two independent panelists. That was granted on September 1.

A senior NZTR official who has a family member with a historic working relationship with Cameron stood down from the exemption process so there could be no perception of a conflict of interest.

Once granted the exemption Cameron had to apply for a licence with NZTR to resume riding. This application went before the NZTR Racing & Integrity committee. During this process leading international advice was sought on similar cases in horse racing and other sports. Cameron’s licence to ride was granted with conditions.

Cameron has been riding trackwork and at trials for the last two weeks and was informed on Wednesday he can ride in races again so will be back to work at Te Rapa tomorrow.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.