Anthony and Sam Freedman’s spring carnival could be derailed if the Victorian Racing Tribunal heeds a call from Racing Victoria to ban the father-and-son trainers for three months.
On Wednesday, RV asked the VRT to disqualify the Melbourne Cup-winning trainers over a series of charges relating to the raceday treatment of two horses with a nebuliser.
The racing body’s lawyer told the VRT the behaviour was “systemic” and must be dealt with by a mandatory disqualification under the rules to send a strong message to the industry.
But the lawyer acting on behalf of the trainers said the treatment off horses Kira and Moonhaven in August last year was simply the result of an “unfortunate combination of circumstances” that should be put down to “human error” by staff and dealt with accordingly with a fine.
The VRT will now consider a penalty, which will be handed down at 9am on July 1 in a judgement that could send shockwaves through the industry.
The trainers pleaded guilty to three charges that were laid by RV stewards following a routine stable inspection that found staff administering medication to the horse Kira after scratching time on the day she was due to race at Caulfield.
Their investigation discovered that another horse that was due to race that day, Moonhaven, was also treated with the nebuliser earlier in the morning.
A nebuliser is a breathing apparatus designed to deliver medication to a horse’s airways. Its use is legal but under the rules of racing no medication is allowed to be administered to a horse on a race day.
The trainers’ lawyer Matthew Stirling tried to make it clear to the VRT that the treatments were “purely therapeutic” and prescribed legitimately by a vet due to the respective horses’ respiratory issues.
He said the use on raceday came as the result of miscommunication among the stable’s management hierarchy, with several failings in procedure leading to a perfect storm in which the horses were incorrectly treated.
Anthony Freedman was in Sydney at the time and Saam Freedman was traveling between multiple venues to watch gallops, with neither on site at the time the stable inspection occurred.
“(Treatment was) never at the direction or with the authorisation of Anthony or Sam Freedman,” Stirling said.
“The Freedmans really had good systems in place but through a combination of unfortunate coincidences, these administrations occurred.
“There was certainly some confusion about when the horses were going to be racing.
“It was a simple human error.
“It all becomes a bit of a mess but the ultimate answer is that it’s a mess by the stable employees.
“They (Sam and Anthony Freedman) are accountable and they have been accountable in their evidence and by their pleas.
“When you have stables and there are a lot of horses, these things do happen and no trainer gets through unscathed in his career really, whether it’s a presentation case or raceday medication or some other.”
Acting on behalf of Racing Victoria, Greg Buchhorn said charges amounted to a “serious breach” of the rule and must be punished by the VRT.
He claimed evidence from several stable staff that were responsible for the use of the nebuliser on raceday was inconstant and should not be relied upon by the VRT.
He conceded that while the penalty is up to the discretion of the VRT, especially in cases special circumstances and an early guilty plea, he pointed the Tribunal to the mandatory six-month disqualification under the rules for raceday treatment charges.
“The charges relate to two horses so it’s not simply a case of a one-off mistake,” Buchhorn said.
“The accounts that were given by both of those women (stable staff) is simply not a credible account.
“It would’ve been obvious to both of these employees who have many years of experience under their belt with respect to training horses, that even if there was some prior doubt about Kira and whether that horse was going to be racing, the stable boxes had hay removed and the yellow strap (indicating the horse is racing that that day) had been attached to both of and the whiteboard indicated that both Kira and Moonhaven were scheduled to be racing on that day.
“Following the system that should’ve been in place because those things were done to indicate to staff that horses are racing and they should not administer medication, it should have been obvious that neither of these horses should have the nebuliser given to them.
“In my submission that underscores why this is a serious example of the breach of the relevant rule.
“It’s ultimately up to the Tribunal what is the just and appropriate penalty to be imposed but the only restriction that goes to that discretion is that is must be a disqualification.”
Earlier, the hearing was delayed by 15 minutes to allow the Freedmans to confirm instructions to Stirling after the VRT received a contradictory submission from another lawyer claiming to act on their behalf.
It is understood the second written submission outlined a different approach to how the trainers were going to plead to the charges.
VRT Chairman Peter Reardon was noticeably frustrated and said the second submission was “totally inconsistent” with Stirling’s written submission and could be seen as attempting to “mislead the Tribunal” ahead of the hearing.
The submission by the second lawyer, Hamish Esplin, was not considered by the VRT.
