Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) Stewards have issued charges against licensed trainers Ben Yole and Robert Walters under Australian Harness Racing Rule (AHRR) 190(1), which reads:

A horse shall be presented for a race free of prohibited substances.

It is alleged that the horse ‘Baccarat’ was presented to race at Kilmore on 12 February 2023 by Mr Walters, on behalf of Mr Yole who was not in attendance, when not free of arsenic, a prohibited substance when evidenced at a concentration above the allowable threshold.

AHRR 190(3) reads as follows:

If a person is left in charge of a horse and the horse is presented for a race otherwise than in accordance with sub rule (1), the trainer of the horse and the person left in charge is each guilty of an offence. 

The charges will be heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT) on a date to be fixed.