Australian trainer Smith handed 15-year ban for cobalt positives

Australian trainer Smith handed 15-year ban for cobalt

positives

Darren Smith became the first Australian trainer to be

sentenced for cobalt use after Racing New South Wales stewards pronounced

a total ban of 15 years on account of 42 charges related to cobalt

administration.

Between February and May last year, 17 horses from Smith's

Newcastle stable, involved in 20 races, returned elevated levels of

cobalt when tested post-race, while another positive swab resulted from

an out-of-competition test. Twelve of the samples were found

to carry in excess of 1000 micrograms of cobalt per liter of urine.

Smith initially denied administering cobalt, yet he

admitted buying an unmarked bottle, which he said he understood as containing

a blood-booster, from banned harness racing trainer Shannon

Wonson, and injecting several of his horses with the substance. His

legal counsel Paul O'Sullivan argued before the stewards that Smith could

not have known cobalt was a prohibited substance.

"At the relevant

time the word cobalt did not appear in the rules," O'Sullivan said. "The

facts are not in dispute that Mr. Smith injected the horses with a

substance. If he had been given a bottle labeled cobalt would he have known it

was prohibited? The answer is no."

Indeed, no threshold for the mineral existed in New

South Wales at the time of the offences -- the 200 mcg/l threshold was

introduced in Victoria in April 2014 before gaining national status from January 1,

2015 -- yet stewards judged that the conditioner had been in breach of

the rule banning substances which alter horses' blood patterns and

stimulate the production of EPO. They also took into account Smith's

stained drug record, as this is the 10th drug-related offense he is

found guilty of.

"There is not a record in New South Wales like that," Chief

Steward Ray Murrihy commented.

Smith's ban was backdated to May 30,

2014, the date when Racing New South Wales started refusing entries from

his stable. The trainer has lodged an appeal against the decision.

In Victoria, trainers Peter Moody, Mark Kavanagh, Danny

O'Brien and the partnership of Lee and Shannon Hope remain under

investigation for breaches of the 200 mcg/l cobalt threshold introduced last

spring.

On the eve of Smith's penalty hearing, Racing New

South Wales was rocked by yet another drug scandal as the Daily

Telegraph revealed that Scone trainer Luke Griffith had been briefly banned

from starting horses following two of his charges testing positive to

methamphetamine, the drug commonly known as ice or crystal meth.

The

swabs were taken as part of a post-race test, and stewards are now awaiting

results of the B-sample.

"We stopped racing out of his stable for a short period and

took bio-security measures and tested his horses and staff," Racing NSW

chief steward Ray Murrihy told Fairfax Media, also adding that

he wouldn't comment on ongoing investigations.

Griffith told News Corp, "he was unsure why horses in his care would return 'small traces'

of the illicit substance."

While this is thought to be the first case of a horse

testing positive to the drug in Australia, New Zealand trainer Tracey Newton

was handed a three-year ban on such grounds in October last year.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com