O’Shea granted stay, cleared to train as appeal looms

Trainer John O’Shea will be allowed to resume his training with Tom Charlton after he was granted a stay of proceedings on Tuesday, until a decision on his appeal against a four-month disqualification for improper conduct is made.

Racing NSW Appeal panel chairman Lachlan Gyles SC called it “a very interesting case” after hearing 2-1/2 hours of argument and said it would be unfair not to stay the disqualification, while he and his panel of Judy Foley and Jim Murphy consider the matter.

Barrister Matthew Sterling, appearing for O’Shea, put forward the local rule, which mandates a six-month disqualification for improper conduct towards a racing official, could be invalid because it was inconsistent and changed the Australian Rules of Racing.

It is an argument without precedent, and Mr Gyles indicated it could take some time for the panel to rule on. He will endeavour to have a ruling on the appeal by next week, but it could stretch to several weeks.

The local rule, introduced in 2023, means that one of the most severe sanctions available to stewards is mandatory in cases of improper conduct, which had previously been handled by fines.

If the argument about the local rule failed, Sterling also contended that, given O’Shea’s guilty plea, the panel could reduce the disqualification to a suspension or even a fine.

Racing NSW head of integrity Michael Cleaver said that under the special circumstances, part of the local rule that disqualification could only be taken down to a disqualification, which is why O’Shea went for the mandatory six months to four in his ruling.

Cleaver started the morning presenting the case on his own, with chief steward Tom Moxon watching on, but by the end of the hearing, Daniel Hadley from the integrity department and Racing NSW in-house counsel Pete Sweeney were in the hearing.

Sweeney was giving advice to Cleaver when the Appeal panel granted O’Shea the stay of proceedings to strongly oppose it.

Cleaver asked if the decision took a number of weeks, if Racing NSW could recontest the stay of proceedings.