Racing: Files show trainer knew effect of drug

Leading harness racing trainer Mark Purdon realised blue magic could produce great results when a horse he tried it won, a police statement reveals.

Purdon also demonstrated how difficult it was to restrain Light And Sound, before the horse won.

The Weekend Press has discovered significant details about the admissions Purdon made during a police interview in May last year.

These details challenge sympathetic submissions made for Purdon when he appeared before a racing judicial panel last week.

Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) dropped doping charges relating to two races because it had no positive swabs.

Blue magic supplier Robert Asquith, who has since died, also told police he sometimes duped trainers by selling them blue-dyed water.

In a deal struck by HRNZ and Purdon's lawyer he admitted acting to the detriment of harness racing by twice administering a substance.

It is still serious, but without the more damaging connotations stirred by the use of illicit drugs.

Critics are calling it a whimpering end to the blue magic furore, 15 months after police and racing officials launched major doping inquiries into the industry.

HRNZ is nonetheless calling for Purdon to be barred from training for a year. He could also be fined up to $25,000. The penalty is expected to be announced this month.

Police seriously considered bringing fraud charges against Purdon and millionaire owner John Seaton after finding evidence of a proposed sale of Light And Sound. Seaton, who has also since died, denied the horse was ever for sale.

But Auckland bloodstock agent John Curtin said he spoke to Seaton 10 days before Light And Sound's win, and was told it would take $200,000 to buy the horse.

Curtin said he told Seaton the horse would have to start winning to justify that price.

Police ultimately decided to defer to HRNZ's judicial process.

Last November, just days after being charged by HRNZ over the blue magic affair, Seaton was found dead. As in the Asquith case, the death is being treated as a suspected suicide.

HRNZ lawyer Chris Lange told the judicial hearing last week that Seaton was complicit in Purdon's use of blue magic.

Seaton introduced Purdon to Asquith, a professional gambler and bush chemist, at Christchurch Casino early last year.

The trio met several times over the next few months at the casino. Asquith discussed the benefits of blue magic. Purdon and Seaton would later say Asquith simply described it as an enzyme.

The Weekend Press understands Seaton expressed frustration about being beaten by other trainers he believed had a blue magic advantage.

Purdon bought 10 vials of blue liquid from Asquith for $1500. He denied using the substance when his stables were raided by police.

No blue magic was found, but other samples sourced from Asquith were found to contain the banned raceday substance, propantheline bromide, an ingredient of blue magic.

A week later Purdon changed his story when pressed by police.

He admitted he had twice injected Light And Sound just hours from racing in the hope it would help a suspected bleeding problem.

Veterinary experts believe as many as four out of five racehorses bleed internally, to varying degrees, from the pressure of racing. This can weaken a horse's competitiveness and, ultimately, its value.

HRNZ restricts the use of some bleeding remedies that are capable of enhancing performance.

Purdon said he threw the other eight vials away upon hearing that blue magic was at the centre of a doping bust in Australia.

He told police he had no idea what was in the substance, but was assured by Asquith it would not cause trouble by returning a positive swab.

Asquith was right. HRNZ analysts found no irregularities in urine taken from Light And Sound.

Purdon said he knew the substance was performance-enhancing after Light And Sound scored in a $20,000 race on March 26, according to police files handed to HRNZ.

The performance-enhancing reference was disputed at the hearing by Purdon's lawyer, Nick Davidson, QC. But sources have confirmed that was what Purdon told police.

It is understood Purdon also held out his arms to show a police officer how difficult it had been to restrain Light And Sound.

Three weeks after the dashing win, Purdon again injected Light And Sound with blue magic - but it finished only third.

- NZPA