Racing: Aussies to probe cocaine claim

SYDNEY - Victorian racing stewards won't rule out retrospective action against top New Zealand jockey Michael Walker over his admission he took cocaine during his stint in Melbourne last year.

Chief steward Des Gleeson yesterday said he intended to ring Walker in New Zealand this week.

"I just want to speak to him to get clarification of what appeared in the newspaper after he apparently expressed views on a TV show."

Specifically, Gleeson wants to ascertain whether Walker was riding under the influence of cocaine during his six-month spell in Melbourne.

'If he was riding under the influence of cocaine, well that's not very good at all," Gleeson told NZPA.

He said stewards could open an inquiry if they believed Walker's actions were "detrimental to image or interests of racing".

Walker, 21, said in a New Zealand television interview last week that he would "do cocaine" during his stint in Melbourne last year and was amazed he was never caught by racing authorities.

"I woke up in the morning, have breakfast, do cocaine, that was it," Walker said.

"I don't know how but I never got tested for it when I was over there," he said.

"If I had got tested I wouldn't even still be a jockey."

Gleeson said it was disappointing to hear the comments.

"We do have a wide range of testing that we have here in Victoria and throughout Australia.

"You wouldn't like to think any rider was compromising the safety of himself or anyone else through using drugs, because it has the potential to do that."

Gleeson said while Walker had said he had not been tested in Melbourne, he was tested once at a Victorian country meeting. The test was negative.

Gleeson said some jockeys had spoken to him about the issue at the Caulfield races on Saturday.

"They were concerned it was tarnishing the image of racing generally."

Four jockeys underwent random drug tests at Caulfield, while in New South Wales, five of the state's top six jockeys were tested.

"We were just testing along the lines we normally do," Gleeson said.

"We do mix it up and test apprentices and senior jockeys. We do a lot of testing with stablehands."

If there were suggestions there was a cocaine problem more prevalent than stewards believed, they would step up testing, he said.

"If we thought there was a problem and there was a need to do it, we'd increase it.

"We haven't got a huge pool of jockeys, so we get round them pretty regularly."

Gleeson said earlier that Walker had arrived in Melbourne with a terrific reputation but had failed to live up to it.

"I had a few talks to him about a number of issues, but never had any clue that he was doing anything like that," he told the Weekend Australian newspaper.

- NZPA