A trainer has had a legal win after he was fined for a social media spray when his runner missed a key race because of Melbourne traffic caused by youth criminals.
Lady of Five, trained by Peter Hulbert and his son Will, was scratched from the fillies Blue Diamond Preview in January because they couldn’t get the horse to the course on time.
Will Hubert was originally fined $2000 by Stewards for breaching racing rule AR228a – ‘conduct prejudicial to the image, interests, or integrity of racing’ for a post he made on social media.
The post said:
“Lady Of Five is fine guys. We allowed 2 hours for a 50 minute trip to Caulfield and some retard crashed on the highway and stuffed everything. She will have a jump out Tuesday at Pakenham and race next weekend at Caulfield in the 1000m group 3 Chairman’s”.
The post has since been deleted.
But Will appealed the fine in the Victorian Racing Tribunal over the severity of the fine. According to his lawyer Corey Cullen, Will’s weekend to watch his filly in Melbourne had already proven expensive.
”Mr Hulbert flew down from Brisbane on the day of race to save overnight costs as the plane trip was costing $822 plus $100 each way from the airport to Caulfield Racecourse and return to the airport after the races,’’ the Tribunal heard.
”Mr Hulbert allowed two hours and 30 minutes for the horse to be taken to the course, but the horse float was stuck in a traffic jam on the Monash Freeway. This was caused by youths in a stolen car taking off to prevent arrest from the police and colliding with six other cars.’’
The traffic meant Lady Of Five missed her race.
The Tribunal heard that Will originally did not believe the words he used were offensive.
”At the Inquiry on 26 January 2026, in his evidence, he did not think the words were offensive. He stated in the interview he did not believe the word “retard” was offensive and the reference to the word “poof” was a joke. Further, he stated the owners of Lady of Five and himself had spent thousands of dollars on flights, accommodation and flying the horse to Melbourne. It was the Australia Day weekend, and the Australian Open was also on, he felt very frustrated and did not think he should be fined,’’ The tribunal heard.
In arguing against the severity of his fine, Cullen said Will now concedes his behaviour was ‘’unacceptable’’ and thought his posts would only go to ‘’a few friends”
”Mr Cullen has provided three references of good character and are from owners of horses trained by the Hulberts’. They testify to Mr Hulbert’s good character and that he is a hardworking, enthusiastic trainer who has gone to a great deal of effort and expense to have the horse ready to race on Caulfield that day and it was three months in the planning,’’ the tribunal said.
‘’The references refer to the fact that Mr Hulbert is remorseful, realises that his behaviour is unacceptable and there was no excuse for it. It was a spontaneous reaction to an event that despite all the time, effort and expense was unavoidable and with no fault attributed to Mr Hulbert. The heat of the moment reaction by him was not expected to go to a potentially wide audience, but only to a few friends.’’
In halving the fine handed out to Will from $2000 to $1000, the Tribunal found the Queensland trainer’s judgment was impacted by the events of the day.
”The Tribunal accepts that it was a heat of the moment reaction, Mr Hulbert is now remorseful and that the words used were not directed at any particular person in connection to racing. It was a regrettable reaction by Mr Hulbert by the use of social media potentially going to a large audience and something that, at the very least, cannot be taken back,’’ the Tribunal said.
”The Tribunal accepts that to train a horse for a particular race involving three months preparation, time and effort, plus expense, is significant and to have it blown up in your face, the reaction may be understandable, but not excusable. The Tribunal is of the view that hopefully Mr Hulbert has learnt his lesson and will contain himself in future if unanticipated problems arise within the racing industry. There are many hard luck stories in the racing industry, however, the Tribunal expects participants in this industry to conduct themselves appropriately in public.”
