Trainer Mitch Freedman has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Victorian Racing Tribunal more than two-and-a-half years after his horse Pearl De Vere returned a positive to cobalt.

At the penalty hearing on Thursday, it was decided that the Ballarat-based horseman was not culpable for the elevated reading and would not be penalised.

The charge followed a race at Geelong in June 2019, after which Freedman's horse Pearl De Vere recorded 111 micrograms of cobalt per litre of urine, above the 100-microgram threshold. A confirmation sample returned a reading of 130 micrograms.

Freedman had entered a guilty plea to the charge of presentation, but his lawyer Damian Sheales explained that the result was due to a feeding regime of a commercially available product that contained much higher than advertised levels of cobalt.

Stewards accepted the explanation, having previously conducted testing on the feed in question, which confirmed that it contained cobalt levels excessively higher than what was advertised on the packaging.

Despite this, Racing Victoria's lawyer Daniel Bolkunowicz asked that a fine of $4000 be imposed on Freedman to act as a general deterrent to the industry.

But this was rejected by Sheales, who said Freedman's only action that led to the cobalt positive was the purchase of a widely used feed product and any sanction would serve little purpose as a deterrent to others.

"It's not low culpability, it's zero culpability," Sheales said.

"The point of general deterrence is to deter others from engaging in similar conduct but here the conduct is the purchasing of feeds that the entire industry uses.

"Racing Victoria have not put out a memorandum telling the industry to no longer use the feed in question.

"So the submission about general deterrence in this case is just incongruous because the action done by Mr Freedman is the purchase of a feed that the whole industry buys and as a result he got a positive.

"I know that eminent cobalt expert of more recent times, Dr Grace Forbes, says in her expert reports that if one follows what she says to do, the prospect of a positive approaches zero.

"Well we know that's not true, but the reality is that you're entitled, as is Mr Freedman, to rely on such an eminent expert as Dr Forbes in this area.

"You can't have it both ways."

Ultimately, the VRT agreed with Sheales and determined that no penalty would be imposed on Freedman, other than Pearl De Vere being officially disqualified from the race at Geelong.

Speaking to Racing.com after the hearing, Freedman said he is keen to put the case behind him.

"I'm glad it's been resolved after such a long and stressful process," Freedman said.

"I just hope that the stigma and the talk that was around when the positive came out will disappear now.

"A large part of the evidence was the records we keep for treatments and everything we do in our stable is above board. 

"I'm proud of the way the staff have conducted themselves throughout the investigation and the way that they maintained those practices we have in place."

Supplementary report Flemington 18/12/2021

Stewards interviewed trainer Ciaron Maher today regarding comments attributed to him in a Herald Sun newspaper article published on 1 December, 2021. Mr Maher was reported to have referred to jockey Jamie Kahs recent length of suspensions as a joke. Mr Maher gave evidence that it was not his intention to comment on the suspensions but did do so when asked during the interview. He added that his comments within the news article were intended to be positive in relation to Jamie Kahs return to race riding and it was never his intention to comment about the length of the suspension. Mr Maher agreed that he used a poor choice of words and assured Stewards that he would be far more judicious in future when expressing his personal views. After taking into account all of the circumstances, Stewards severely reprimanded C Maher for making a comment which could be viewed as prejudicial to the image and or interest of racing.

RV Stewards' Report - Tony Noonan

Racing Victoria Staff@RacingVictoria

18 January, 2022

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STEWARDS' REPORT - TRAINER GERARD MOLONEY

Trainer Gerard Moloney pleaded guilty to a charge under AR232(b) for failing or refusing to comply with an order, direction or requirement of the Stewards or an official in that after receiving a Positive COVID-19 result, he failed to properly self-isolate for a short period during the following seven days in accordance with the requirements of the prevailing Government Orders and the Racing Victoria COVID-19 Base Protocols. It was established that whilst self- isolating at home, Mr Moloney had attended his licensed premises at Cranbourne alone on three separate occasions, out of normal working hours, for a brief period, to prepare feeds for the stable horses. After considering Mr Moloneys guilty plea, his remorse, candid evidence and outstanding disciplinary record over a long period of time, together with the importance of licensed persons complying with COVID-19 protocols and the potential ramifications of non-compliance, Mr Moloney was fined $1000.

No ‘gunslinging' from new Racing Victoria sheriff

Trainer Rebecca Waymouth has been fined $10,000, of which half is suspended, after a Victorian Racing Tribunal hearing on Friday into a positive for the steroid trendione.

The VRT disqualified her runner Maliepo from a BM64 win at Moe on July 6, but fined rather than imposed a term of suspension or disqualification on the trainer, who the tribunal found had likely been misled by her veterinarian over the use of the oral mare’s product Ovumate.

A period of suspension for the breach of ARR 240 (2) was not sought by Racing Victoria’s counsel Jack Anderson, despite industry warnings against the use of similar products containing altrenogest being issued in 2018 and again in 2022.

“Stewards submit that although the substance in question is a steroid and one that is prohibited at all times in racing, a disqualification would not be appropriate or fair in the circumstances,” Anderson told the tribunal.

“In an interview with the trainer, it was noted that the mare had, on vet’s advice, been given the product Ovumate because she was quite hormonal, was quite temperamental and had handling difficulties.

“Ovumate contains altrenogest and (an) industry notice issued by Racing Victoria in August, 2022 and earlier in 2018 had specifically warned participants that batches of commercial products contain altrenogest were tested and were found to contain, in varying levels, the steroid trenbolone and its metabolite trendione.

“The stewards, having taken into account the evidence, were satisfied that the finding of trendione in the horse was not due to an administration and was most likely the result of the altrenogest contained in the substance.”

Anderson, however, said the trainer has full responsibility for presenting their horses to race free of prohibited substances.

“Racing operates on the basis that trainers are given a privilege of a licence and the privilege carries with it a number of obligations, not the least of which is the expectation that trainers will keep themselves informed of matters which the regulator has specifically brought to their attention,” he said.

Waymouth lamented her situation where she took the recommendation of an industry registered vet, who offered incorrect advice as to the withholding period of such a substance.

“I fully understand the stewards’ point of view and I am certainly not trying to use the vet’s advice as a shield, however, as a licensed trainer under Racing Victoria rules, I am obliged to use a registered Racing Victoria vet, which I did, and his advice is how I went about using the product,” Waymouth explained.

“Like I said, I am not trying to use this as a shield, but where are you meant to get your correct advice from if you can’t rely on someone that is mean to to be under the same rules and protocols as yourself?”

VRT chairman Shane Marshall said that despite the circumstances, the panel had no option but to sanction Waymouth and to stand-down Maliepo from racing.

“In setting a penalty, we have taken into account general deterrence and the importance of maintaining a level playing field by having a drug-free industry,” he said.

“We also take into account Ms Waymouth’s early guilty plea, her excellent, unblemished record and her full co-operation with the stewards.

“Ms Waymouth no longer uses the vet who advised her to use Ovumate and no longer uses Ovumate or similar substances.

“We have also taken into account Ms Waymouth’s good character as attested to in several character references.

“In all the circumstances, we impose a penalty of a fine of $10,000 with $5000 suspended for a period of 12 months pending no further breaches of the rules of racing regarding prohibited substances.”

Fellow trainers Matt Laurie and Daniel Williams have also been charged with trendione positives with Racing Victoria continuing investigations into those matters.