On 1 December 2022, the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT) considered a charge issued by Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) Stewards against licensed trainer Brandon Bonavia 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 ‘Sweet Sangria’ after it won Race 8, the ‘Shamrock Flooring Pace’, at the Geelong harness racing meeting on 14 April 2022. Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) reported the sample contained arsenic in excess of the allowable threshold.
Mr Bonavia pleaded guilty to the charge before submissions on penalty were heard on behalf of the HRV Stewards and from Luke Kilduff on behalf of Mr Bonavia.
Penalty
Mr Bonavia was fined $2000, with $1500 of that fine suspended for a period of 12 months.
The VRT also ordered that, under AHRR 195, ‘Sweet Sangria’ be disqualified from Race 8 at Geelong on 14 April 2022 and that the placings be amended accordingly. Further to that, the VRT ordered that under AHRR 200(1) any prizemoney won by ‘Sweet Sangria’ from the race be refunded to HRV.
VRT Panel: Magistrate John Doherty (Deputy Chairperson) and Heidi Keighran
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)