Trainer John Leek will fight a charge of illegal raceday stomach tubing leveled at him by Racing Victoria on Thursday.
RV stewards issued the single charge against the Pakenham trainer, alleging that he attempted to stomach tube The Storyteller en route to the Warrnambool races in July.
Stewards ordered the scratching of the horse and opened an investigation into the matter.
Stomach-tubing is a procedure where a soft rubber tube is passed through a horse’s nostril into the stomach. It is commonly used for veterinary purposes and is also used as a method of administering fluids, electrolytes and vitamins to horses.
The practice is banned on raceday prior to a race and only allowed on a racecourse with stewards’ permission post-race.
Leek said he had the tubing equipment in the float to give The Storyteller a post-race drench to help the horse recover quicker after the 3100m event.
When RV’s compliance stewards inspected Leek’s float on the roadside near Terang, the trainer claims he was stopping for a toilet break, having driven non-stop from the other side of Melbourne.
Leek said he will engage legal representation and plead not guilty to the charge.
“I’m innocent,” Leek said.
“I’m shocked they’ve charged me.”
“I was driving from Nar Nar Goon to Warrnambool so after the horse raced, it would’ve meant that he hadn’t had a drink for about 12 hours.”
“We were going to give him a post-race drench.”
“Three-and-a-half hours into the drive I needed to take a toilet break so I told the bloke driving the car to find somewhere to pull over.”
“I reckon when you’re 72 and you go three and a half hours, you’ve done a good job.”
The charge will be heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a date to be fixed.
