On 3 September 2020, the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT) considered two charges issued by Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) Stewards against licensed trainer Hugh Cathels 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 first charge related to a urine sample collected from the horse ‘Cuzin Lyndal’ after it won Race 7, the ‘North Central Review 3YO Pace’, at the Kilmore harness racing meeting on 16 January 2020. Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) reported the sample contained arsenic in excess of the allowable threshold.
The second charge related to a urine sample collected from the horse ‘Mota Mate’ after it won Race 11, the ‘Alabar Vicbred Platinum Country Series F Final’, at the Tabcorp Park Melton harness racing meeting on 17 January 2020. RASL reported the sample contained arsenic in excess of the allowable threshold.
Dr Cathels pleaded guilty to both charges before submissions on penalty were heard from the HRV Stewards and Dr Cathels.
Penalty
Charge 1 – $2500 fine, with $2000 of that fine suspended for a period of 12 months.
Charge 2 – $2500 fine, with $2250 of that fine suspended for a period of 12 months.
The VRT also ordered that, under AHRR 195, ‘Cuzin Lyndal’ and ‘Mota Mate’ be disqualified from the relevant races and that the placings be amended accordingly. Further to that, the VRT ordered that under AHRR 200(1) any prizemoney won by ‘Cuzin Lyndal’ and ‘Mota Mate’ from the relevant races be refunded to HRV.
VRT Panel: Judge John Bowman (Chairman), Dr Andrew Gould and Dr June Smith
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)