Time-wasting claims fly at Cropp hearing

Frustrations boiled over at champion jockey Lisa Cropp's drug case yesterday, with lawyers for both parties questioning the tribunal's right to adjudicate.

Simon Moore, lawyer for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing which has brought the charges, accused Cropp's lawyers of time wasting and making up arguments as they went along.

Most of the 10-day inquiry has focused not on the jockey's positive urine test to methamphetamine in May but a submission by Cropp's lawyers that she has no case to answer because of procedural breaches.

These include an assertion that the Judicial Control Authority has no legal right to hear the case.

Mr Moore said the defence had a right to argue the case but asked the tribunal to impose "tight time limits so we can get to the end of this interminable tunnel". The case was originally set down for a week.

Speaking outside the tribunal, lawyer Barry Hart said Cropp was New Zealand's leading jockey and they were providing her with the best defence possible.

The charges carry maximum penalties of a 12-month ban and $10,000 fine.

The hearing is expected to be adjourned today for the two-man tribunal to decide whether they can go ahead and hear the case.