Oz ‘litany of brazen attempts at cheating’

The Aquanita case represented one of the darkest and longest chapters in the history of the Australian turf as it featured “a litany of brazen attempts to cheat” the Australian Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board found in Melbourne yesterday.

The three-person board issued their guilty verdicts at Melbourne’s County Court for all 271 charges against eight people, in the groundbreaking investigation.

The board will return tomorrow to hear submissions before issuing penalties to those charged, reports racing.com.

Trainer Robert Smerdon, who the board described as “the most prominent and leading trainer of the group”, is facing a possible lifetime ban from thoroughbred racing following his guilty verdicts.

“He, along with Gregory Nelligan, could be described as the driving force behind the illegal ‘top-ups’ conspiracy,” Judge John Bowman said. “We do not accept his explanation when interviewed that a ‘top-up’ consistent of feed and water.

“When all the text messages and their timing, particularly on race days, are examined, this is palpable nonsense. This applies to others who attempted this explanation.”

Judge Bowman said the board was in no doubt all eight people charged were involved in varying degrees to the administration of bi-carb “top-ups”.

He said Nelligan “seems to have been the architect and to some extent the promoter of the ‘topups’ scheme”.

“We are comfortably satisfied that Gregory Nelligan administered illegal ‘top-ups’ to horses, almost always on race days, on 123 occasions over seven years and predominantly at metropolitan tracks.”

The board found Nelligan’s wife, Denise, guilty of 13 charges. Judge Bowman said she “blew the whistle” on the ‘top-ups’ saga in an interview in late October last year where she confessed as to the contents of the ‘top-ups’.

“She told stewards the ‘top-ups’ were not feed and water — a proposition that was never credible — but were ‘bi-carb and tripart’.”

Judge Bowman said the board did not accept her attempt to resile from this evidence by the way of a letter some days later that she had been “under stress, intimidated and wanted to get out of the room”.

“Her involvement in the whole affair was one of considerable significance,” Judge Bowman said.

In conclusion, the board noted: “The Aquanita case represents one of the darkest and longest chapters in the history of the Australian turf.

“There is a litany of brazen attempts to cheat and to obtain an unfair advantage over many years by a well-organised team,” the board noted.

It concluded: “This brings to an end the first part of this very sad and sorry tale.

“We will hear pleas in relation to penalties on Thursday and will endeavour to hand down such penalties on that day.”