Victoria’s Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board has banned trainer Ricky Maund for six months after finding him guilty of treating his runners on the day of a meeting at Caulfield.
Stewards charged Maund after members of the Compliance Assurance Team detected a white paste on the mouth and nose of Uncle Keithy on the morning of the April 18 meeting at Caulfield.
Maund was not present at the time the CAT members arrived at his stable but the stewards observed one of the trainer’s employees emerging from a box while carrying a food container with the remnants of a slurry in it along with a 60ml syringe.
The stablehand told the CAT members the substance was glucose but the substance was later found to be a mixture of potassium chloride and bicarbonate (an alkalinising agent).
Stewards established the horse in that box was not a runner at Caulfield before questioning Maund’s employee to determine whether he had given the mixture to Uncle Keithy.
The stablehand denied giving the mixture to Uncle Keithy before the CAT reported the matter to the stewards officiating at Caulfield, who later scratched the horse from his event.
Maund attended an inquiry at Caulfield, telling stewards the white substance was “a mystery to him” but said the substance could have been saliva or mucus from a horse in the adjoining box.
Racing Victoria vet Dr Ledger said the photographic evidence of the substance on Uncle Keithy’s face was consistent with the administration of an oral paste or slurry.
Maund offered alternative explanations for the reason for the residue on Uncle Keithy’s face when the inquiry resumed on May 1 but the RAD Board deemed the trainer’s theories as “fanciful”.
The RAD Board, chaired by Judge Russell Lewis, was “comfortably satisfied that it should reject Maund’s explanations” before the panel disqualified Maund for six months with the penalty to begin at midnight on July 27.
The RAD Board also ruled Maund must not start a horse in the seven days leading up to the beginning of his disqualification.
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Brad Waters