![Grant and Alana Williams have been disqualified for 12 months following the Racing WA inquiry into Starry Heights. [Bradley Photos]](https://betsy.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/western-empire-grant-williams-alana-williams_14-12-2024_win_ascot_8__26_1000x667px.webp)
Western Australia’s premier trainers, Grant and Alana Williams, have been disqualified for 12 months over a long-running saga involving a banned substance, ritalinic acid, that was detected in a post-mortem sample taken from their runner Starry Heights.
The duo are expected to appeal the decision.
The Williams have strongly reject any suggestion the substance was willingly administered to Starry Heights, the horse at the centre of the allegations, who passed away post his race in 2025.
Racing WA stewards said that the “sample was taken after the gelding competed in, and was eased out of, the Kalgoorlie Cup (Race 8) at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club on 4 October.”
Their licence to train was originally suspended until stewards finish their inquiry, but that was overturned in legal proceedings.
On Tuesday, Racing WA stewards handed down the penalty after the co-licensed trainers pleaded guilty to presenting Starry Heights to race at Kalgoorlie on October 4, 2025 with a banned substance.
The duo has repeatedly denied any knowledge of how the substance came into their horse’s system.
Ritalinic acid is a metabolite of methylphenidate, which is classified under the Australian Rules of Racing as a Prohibited List A substance and is permanently banned.
According to a statement from stewards, the Williamses made submissions that the detection could have been the result of contamination, but stewards were not satisfied there was sufficient evidence to accept that explanation.
As a result, according to a statement, the inquiry was unable to establish an accepted explanation for how the substance came to be detected.
Stewards imposed a 12-month disqualification effective immediately, although the trainers will receive credit for 29 days they were previously suspended between January 19 and February 16 this year.
Their periods of disqualification will therefore expire on August 29, 2027.
In determining the penalty, stewards said they took into account the trainers’ guilty pleas and personal circumstances, the nature of the substance detected, the importance of the rule in protecting the integrity of racing and penalties imposed in previous cases.
The Williams earlier this year said their “stable operates under strict internal protocols and systems, which we believe are of a very high standard”.
