Paying $1000 for a bottle of vitamin complex is ridiculous and clearly suspicious, a racehorse vet told a cobalt inquiry yesterday.
But Flemington Equine Clinic partner Dr Ian Church denies lying to NSW stewards when he said there was nothing untoward about the bottle found in trainer Sam Kavanagh's home.
Church is giving evidence in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal as Mark Kavanagh and fellow Victorian trainer Danny O'Brien try to overturn their cobalt disqualifications.
The appeal hearing has been told vet Dr Tom Brennan, Church's partner in the clinic, sent the bottle labelled vitamin complex - later found to contain massive quantities of cobalt - to Kavanagh's son, Sydney trainer Sam Kavanagh.
Racing Victoria barrister Jeff Gleeson QC has said Brennan eventually cracked and admitted O'Brien and Mark Kavanagh paid him $3000 for three bottles.