On 4 July 2022, the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT) considered a charge issued by Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) Stewards against licensed trainer Bill White under Australian Harness Racing Rule (AHRR) 190(1).
AHRR 190(1) reads as follows:
A horse shall be presented for a race free of prohibited substances.
The charge related to a urine sample collected from the horse ‘Im Miss Royalty’ after it won Race 9, the ‘Harvest End Trot’, at the Charlton harness racing meeting on 17 January 2022. Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) reported the sample contained arsenic in excess of the allowable threshold.
Mr White pleaded guilty to the charge before submissions on penalty were heard from the HRV Stewards and Mr White.
Penalty
Mr White was fined $2000, with $1750 of that fine suspended for a period of 12 months.
The VRT also ordered that, under AHRR 195, ‘Im Miss Royalty’ be disqualified from Race 9 at Charlton on 17 January 2022 and that the placings be amended accordingly. Further to that, the VRT ordered that under AHRR 200(1) any prizemoney won by ‘Im Miss Royalty’ from the race be refunded to HRV.
VRT Panel: Judge Graeme Hicks (Deputy Chairperson) and Judge Kathryn Kings
The written decisions of the VRT can be found here.
(Please note that VRT Decisions will generally be published within 7-10 days of the date of hearing)