Racing: Vet banned after betting on dogs he doped

A greyhound racing veterinarian responsible for official drug tests has been banned from the sport for 10 years after doping dogs and betting on them.

James Mason, 46, a Scot who now lives in South Auckland, was also fined $5000 following an inquiry, the Sunday Star-Times reported.

The inquiry was told that Mason injected a phosphorous supplement in July into two greyhounds which he placed with Waikato trainer Ronald O'Regan.

Four days later he gave the trainer $300 to back one of them, something he repeated with the other one another four days later.

The inquiry was also told that on July 28, Mason gave O'Regan capsules to give to two dogs, Fancy Bonnie and Fancy Joe. He told O'Regan that swabs would not detect the drugs, and that he and the Australian owners wanted to place a bet.

O'Regan said he did not give the capsules to the dogs. Fancy Bonnie later ran second and Fancy Joe won, the latter result one that O'Regan expected.

Mason was in charge of drug-testing Fancy Joe after his win. O'Regan saw Mason place a sample taken after the race in a plastic bag which was picked up by a steward and taken away to be tested, but the sample went missing two days later.

Fixed odds bets on both dogs had been placed at a Cambridge TAB. Video surveillance showed Mason making and collecting bets at that TAB.

Vets on duty on racedays are forbidden to place bets.

The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) wanted Mason to be outed for life but the inquiry team banned him for 10 years, saying Mason acted alone and his offending did not amount to race-fixing.

The newspaper also revealed the GRA is under scrutiny after spending $30,000 of its own money betting on greyhound races in an attempt to improve turnover.

Increased turnover earns the GRA greater commissions and could earn it extra race meeting dates and a greater proportion of betting turnover on all Australian races.

The scheme was not illegal but it was expected the Racing Board would now look to ban the greyhound, galloping and trotting boards from using their funds for betting.

- NZPA