Mark Richard Bayliss: Racing club manager and former Collingwood player accused of horse insemination fraud

A former Collingwood player and Albany Racing Club boss has appeared in court for the first time since he was charged with fraud offences, one of which relates to horse semen. Mark Richard Bayliss, 58, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court without a lawyer on Thursday charged with attempting to gain a benefit for another by fraud and gains benefit by fraud. The brief appearance was a first hearing for Mr Bayliss’s two charges. The 58-year-old is accused of gaining a $3300 benefit by fraud for horse insemination between September 1 and September 13, 2020. He is also accused of attempting to gain a benefit by fraud in the form of a $42,000 grant for the Albany Racing Club on January 11, 2022. Mr Bayliss did not enter pleas to the charges but spoke to confirm his name and to ask Magistrate Erin O’Donnell who laid the 2020 charge. “The charge was referred by police but if you’re asking me who laid the complaint, I don’t know,” Ms O’Donnell said. Mr Bayliss requested a four-week adjournment for legal advice, which the magistrate granted. The court extended his bail with a $1000 personal undertaking and he will next appear in Albany Magistrates Court on August 15. The horse racing enthusiast has been general manager at Albany Racing Club since 2019 when he stepped into an interim role, which became permanent in 2020, after a stint as chairman of the Bunbury Turf Club. A passionate sportsman, the ex-South Fremantle forward made his AFL debut for Collingwood in 1989 and played four games over two years but missed selection for the drought-breaking 1990 premiership. Known for his tough man persona, the young footballer once jumped the fence at Leederville Oval to confront a heckler in 1988 and was suspended for striking Footscray’s Mark Athorn in his first reserves game for Collingwood a year later. He went on to become a car dealer in Bunbury and has held various coaching and administrative positions in several football clubs across the South West and Great Southern.