A Tasmanian harness racing trainer and driver has been disqualified for 20 years after pleading guilty to giving horses a banned performance-enhancing drug before races.
Conor Crook pleaded guilty to all 25 charges laid after an investigation by the Tasracing Integrity Unit.
His disqualification began on November 3 and ends on November 3, 2046.
Five of the charges were for giving horses EPO (erythropoietin) before races at the Launceston Pacing Club.
EPO is a hormone that makes the body produce more red blood cells, which increases how much oxygen the blood can carry. It is banned under harness racing rules.
Pre-race swabs found EPO in Maebee and Magnetic Terror on April 4. Swabs found it again in What A Woman, Barnaby and Maebee on May 10.
Crook faced a further five charges of corrupt conduct over the same runs.
Investigators inspected his stables on May 10. They seized glass vials, labels, blenders, hyaluronic powder, a shockwave machine and a bottle labelled “Matrix 1.5”.
According to the stewards’ decision, Crook “obstructed, hindered and impeded” investigators when they directed him to hand over his phone.
Stewards said a forensic analysis of the phone showed he had bought EPO online from India several times.
He had some sent to another person’s address “to circumvent customs scrutiny” and also bought EPO for someone else.
Crook also made a product he called Matrix 1.5 from hyaluronic acid. He used it on his own horses and sold it to other licensed people.
Only registered vets can own or use a shockwave machine on a horse. Crook used one on Winsum Bella the day before it raced on May 1.
Between February 23 and May 1, he had someone else place bets for him on an account that was not in his name.
14 of those bets were on horses to finish ahead of horses he trained and nine were on races he drove in.
Stewards reviewed those races and found no further breaches.
Crook also pleaded guilty to giving investigators false and misleading evidence about how often he bought EPO.
He was fined $1,350 and ordered to pay $24,027 in costs, which is half the cost of testing and transporting the samples.
The five horses that tested positive and Winsum Bella were disqualified from their races and the placings were changed.
Stewards described Crook’s actions as “a deliberate operation that severely compromised both animal welfare and public confidence in the harness racing industry”.
Tasracing chief racing integrity officer Heidi Lester said the case was an example of why the integrity unit was set up.
“This type of behaviour by a licensed racing participant is not acceptable in any context,” she said.
“It severely compromises both animal welfare and public confidence in the Tasmanian racing industry.”
Crook has been advised of his right to appeal.
