Racing: Percentages to be frozen

Under-pressure trainer Peter Moody enjoying happier times while checking out horses during the Karaka Yearling Sales in 2011. Photo / Janna Dixon

Victorian stewards have ordered that five trainers will not collect stakes from feature wins.

Five Victorian trainers at the centre of cobalt charges have avoided a suspension of their licences but they will face a spring carnival prize money freeze.

Racing Victoria stewards announced yesterday that prize money earned in Victorian group and listed races by Peter Moody, Danny O'Brien, Mark Kavanagh and the training partnership of Lee and Shannon Hope would be withheld and placed in a trust account, beginning immediately.

The announcement came after the trainers appeared before stewards last week to show cause as to why their training licences should not be suspended pending their hearings.

In delivering the news yesterday, Racing Victoria's chief steward Terry Bailey said the participation of the trainers in the Melbourne Spring Carnival threatened to undermine the image of racing.

The stewards said it was integral to safeguard the reputation and image of the sport, particularly in races which attracted significant national and international attention.

Bailey said stewards had noted the trainers intended to defend the charges brought against them and if they were cleared of guilt by an independent RAD board, the prize money would be returned to them.

The trainers will still be paid their prize money percentages from non-stakes races.

Bailey said suspending the licences of the five trainers before their charges could be heard by the RAD Board would have had dire consequences on their respective businesses and employees.

Stewards believe the decision to suspend prize money sends a strong message to the racing industry and the public that trainers facing charges will not profit from major races.

Lee and Shannon Hope told stewards they were happy to continue training under this arrangement.

It is the first time stewards have handed out penalties before charges have been heard.

Their power to do so stemmed from a new rule introduced after the Damien Oliver betting scandal.

Moody's cobalt charge arose after Lidari returned a concentration level above the threshold when second in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington last October.

Kavanagh's charge came from Magicool winning at Flemington during the same period, while O'Brien had four horses return high readings.

The elevated cobalt levels returned by horses from the Hopes' stable came from pre-race samples taken from gallopers who were unplaced in races in June, July and September last year.

Charges against the Hopes will be heard by the RAD Board beginning on October 15, while a date is yet to be fixed for the other trio.

Meanwhile, trainer Sam Kavanagh, son of Mark, yesterday pleaded not guilty to administering cobalt to Midsummer Sun amid questions over whether it should be classed as a prohibited substance, reports AAP.

On the first day of the inquiry in Sydney, counsel for Kavanagh and vet Dr Tom Brennan questioned the science relating to the EPO effects of cobalt, a heavy metal salt which is on WADA's banned list.

A partner in the Flemington Equine Clinic, Brennan also pleaded not guilty to administering cobalt but did admit giving false evidence at a previous hearing after being denied an adjournment in the case.

He was named by Kavanagh as the source of Vitamin Complex, a substance later found to have 175 times the amount of cobalt as would normally be expected in a vitamin product.

Cobalt charges
•Five Victorian horsemen are to have their percentages from feature races frozen until the hearing of their charges.
•Lee and Shannon Hope will have their inquiry heard two days before the Caulfield Cup.
•Sam Kavanagh has pleaded not guilty to administering cobalt to Midsummer Sun.