December 12, 2014
by Ross Stanley
Burnett-born horseman Carl Spry will pen the first words of a new chapter at Fannie Bay on Saturday.
The 30-year-old journeyman who cut his teeth as a rider in these parts before home State stints in Brisbane and Toowoomba will partner Kayno, Urgent Bells, Swanky Beau and Nervous on the four-race card at Darwin’s racecourse.
The difference this time is that Spry is also the trainer of the last pair.
Both candidates are making their Northern Territory debuts, having raced previously in NSW and Victoria respectively.
Although Spry’s diary in recent years has been dominated by engagements at Fannie Bay and Alice Springs’ Pioneer Park, a chance meeting in Darwin with a holidaying Barbara Joseph led to his association with her Canberra stable.
The former Bombala trainer with a Doncaster to her credit, courtesy of Merimbula Bay, worked in partnership with her son Paul Jones, a footballer who sported a Raiders jersey for a while back in 1991.
Spry’s logbook for the past 12 months is travelogue material.
He landed winners at Toowoomba when the track re-opened with a turf surface and also chalked up victories at Rockhampton, Mackay, Wondai, Warwick, Warra and Gayndah, his childhood stamping ground.
He made a successful sortie to Kununurra and competed at Beaudesert, Dalby, Emerald, Mt Isa, Kilcoy, Thangool, Ipswich, the two Coasts, Doomben and Eagle Farm.
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Wet Weather Won’t Dampen Esk’s Christmas
Although the recent rain has been ultra-welcome, meetings have been lost at Nanango, Kilcoy, Ipswich and Emerald.
Lee Park has been granted a replacement meeting on Saturday, January 17, and it’s a wonderful date in the sense that the only other fixtures around the entire State will be at the Sunshine Coast (metro), Gold Coast and Toowoomba.
In the south-east country quarter, Esk has a special item on its pre-Christmas agenda next Saturday: an auction in aid of the National Jockeys Trust.
As well as timely Christmas hampers, auction lots include an autographed Socceroos jersey, framed Bart Cummings’ Melbourne Cup memorabilia and a montage of Esk Mater race-day photographs created by life-member Pat Moffatt.
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A Very Sticky End To the Year
2014 is heading for a controversial close, with two high-profile swab cases in Sydney certain to create debate both at home and abroad.
Chris Waller has already been fined $30,000, while Clarry Conners is to attend an inquiry on Monday regarding the presence of lignocaine in the urine sample taken from This Is Australia, a colt raced by John Singleton’s Strawberry Hill Stud.
Conners’ charge Tierce returned a positive swab to lignocaine after winning the 1991 Golden Slipper and AJC Sires Produce Stakes.
The colt retained the trophies, but the trainer was fined $15,000.
That year’s first prize in the Slipper was $1,250,000, and the corresponding cheque this year was worth $2,000,000.
The following extracts (verbatim from Racing NSW reports) provide the background to the issue-rich situation.
Racing NSW Stewards Schedule InquiriesRacing NSW Stewards have to hand certification from two official racing laboratories indicating the presence of Frusemide in the urine sample taken from Junoob (GB) following its win in Race 9 (The Metropolitan) on October 4, 2014 at Royal Randwick. Licensed trainer, Chris Waller was (on Wednesday) provided with a copy of the confirmatory laboratory’s analysis results and advised that an inquiry into the analyst’s findings will commence at 3:00pm today (Thursday, December 11, 2014) at the conclusion of the Terry Drayton appeal hearing. Racing NSW Stewards also have to hand certification from two official racing laboratories, indicating the presence of a metabolite of lignocaine in the urine sample taken from This Is Australia, subsequent to its win in the Mossman@Vinery Handicap at Canterbury Park on September 3, 2014. Licensed trainer, Clarry Conners has been presented copies of both certificates and has been requested to attend an inquiry into the analyst’s findings at 3:00pm on Monday, December 15, 2014. * * *Licensed Trainer Chris Waller Fined $30,000Racing NSW Stewards today (Thursday) conducted an inquiry into the analyst’s finding of the prohibited substance, frusemide, detected in the urine sample taken from Junoob (GB) subsequent to that gelding winning the Group 1 “The Metropolitan Handicap” at Royal Randwick Racecourse on October 4, 2014. Evidence was taken from Mr Chris Waller, trainer of Junoob (GB), Ms Analise Trollope, foreperson and Mr Liam Prior, Racing Manager. Dr Craig Suann, Racing NSW Senior Official Veterinarian and Mr John Keledjian, General Manager, Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory, assisted the inquiry. Dr Suann provided advice to the inquiry that frusemide is a diuretic and a prohibited substance under the rules of racing. Racing NSW Intelligence and Surveillance Unit Chief Investigator, Mr Nathan Hayward provided written evidence concerning an inspection of Mr Waller’s Rosehill stables on November 3, 2014, following the receipt of an irregularity report on that day from the ARFL laboratory. Mr Waller pleaded guilty to a charge under AR178 as the trainer of Junoob (GB), of having brought that gelding to the Royal Randwick racecourse on Saturday, October 4, 2014, for the purposes of engaging in the “The Metropolitan Handicap,” whereby a prohibited substance, namely frusemide, was detected in a urine sample taken from that gelding subsequent to the race. In considering penalty, Stewards were satisfied from the scientific evidence that the administration of frusemide to Junoob (GB) most likely occurred at or around 3:30am on the morning of the race. Further, in assessing penalty, they found that the administration of frusemide was an inadvertent administration by Ms Trollope, whilst conducting scheduled administrations of frusemide to eight horses in Barn 1 (where Junoob (GB) was housed) prior to those horses completing fast work on the Rosehill Gardens training track that morning. Stewards took into account Mr Waller’s prior record of 19 years as a trainer which included one breach of the prohibited substance rules in 2005. The Stewards noted that the findings in April 2013, relative to Ibuprofen detected in four race-day samples involving three horses had made a no fault finding on Mr Waller’s behalf when contamination at the feed mill was established. The Stewards accepted that in 2014, Mr Waller has had 1544 starters across Australia, of which approximately 50 per cent were swabbed. The Stewards also noted that since he was notified of a swab irregularity, Mr Waller has taken measures to improve stable husbandry relative to the safeguards he has in place when administering prohibited substances to horses under his care, such measures including:
Mr Waller was fined $30,000. Acting under the powers of AR177, Junoob (GB) was disqualified from its first placing in “The Metropolitan Handicap” at Royal Randwick on October 4, 2014 and the placings were amended to read: Opinion (IRE), Araldo (GB), Kingdoms (NZ). This ruling was made with Mr Waller representing the interests of the owners of Junoob (GB) at today’s inquiry. Mr Waller was advised of his rights of appeal. |
I’ll have more to say about this issue in next week’s column.
