A Tasmanian greyhound trainer has been suspended for three months after three of his dogs returned positive swabs to codeine following wins at the same Hobart meeting.
According to a Tasracing Integrity Unit stewards’ decision, Anthony Bullock pleaded guilty to three charges under the Greyhounds Australasia Rules at an inquiry on May 20.
The charges relate to races at the Hobart Greyhound Racing Club on December 18 last year, where Lacy Longstrider, Dewana Victory and My Girl Tenika each won their events.
Post-race samples taken from all three dogs were later found to contain codeine and norcodeine.
Racing Analytical Services Ltd notified stewards of the results in February.
The three greyhounds have since been disqualified, with the placings for each race amended.
Stewards inspected Bullock’s kennels but found no evidence of codeine.
His treatment records also contained no indication the substance had been administered.
Bullock told the inquiry he believed his feeding regime at the time could explain the positive results.
The decision states he had since “varied his husbandry practices to eliminate this occurring in future”.
Stewards imposed a three-month suspension on each of the three charges, with two months of each penalty wholly suspended for 24 months.
The penalties will be served concurrently.
In handing down the penalty, the panel said it had taken into account Bullock’s guilty plea, his disciplinary history, penalty precedents and the seriousness of the offence.
Stewards also pointed to “the need to maintain public confidence in the integrity standards of the industry” and for any penalty to act as “a deterrent, both general and specific”.
Bullock was advised of his right to appeal.
