Net widens as scandal grows
The tally of arrests as part of an unprecedented police inquiry into harness race fixing and drug offending has risen to 10, after a second day of raids on stables and homes.
Four people were remanded when they appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday on charges of deceptive practice or drug offences.
They were arrested as part of Operation Inca, a 17-month investigation which culminated in raids on 17 properties in Canterbury, Manawatu¯ and Invercargill on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Judge Tony Couch took the unusual step of suppressing the details of all the charges for two of the accused, and would only allow the general nature of the charges to be reported.
Matthew Anderson, 26, a shedhand of Woodend, was charged with obtaining by deception and drugs charges. He was remanded on bail without plea to September 11.
It is understood others arrested as a result of the police investigation will also be appearing that day.
Anderson’s defence counsel, Philip Watts, sought interim suppression but it was refused.
His bail conditions included not attending horse racing meetings, trials, or work-outs.
He is also charged with three counts of supplying a class B drug, and one charge of possessing the drug for supply.
A 49-year-old Christchurch man was remanded on bail to September 26 on charges of supplying, offering to supply, or possession of various sorts of drugs.
Defence counsel Linda Drummond successfully sought interim name suppression because of the high level of interest in the case and because identification was an issue.
A 30-year-old Christchurch man was charged with offering to supply a class B drug, and offering to supply it to several other people, as well as unlawful possession of a restricted weapon.
He was remanded without plea to September 26 but when refused name suppression was refused, defence counsel Andrew McCormick said it would be appealed to the High Court and the order has been continued until the hearing, if papers are filed.
A fourth man, Elie Georges Sawma, a Papanui hairdresser, aged 42, faced nine charges of supplying or offering to supply the class B drug, namely ecstasy.
He was remanded on bail to October 4, without plea.
Those arrested yesterday join some of the biggest names in New Zealand harness racing facing charges as the investigation enters its final phase.
Those charged to date include trainer/drivers Blair Orange, John Dunn, Nigel McGrath, Natalie Rasmussen, Andrew Stuart, and Manawatu¯ thoroughbred racing administrator Brent Wall.
The Racing Integrity Unit has also moved to bar all those charged by police from attending race meetings, workouts and trials.
It said ‘‘in view of the serious nature of the charges’’, the unit had charged the accused with serious racing offences under the rules of harness racing.
Police yesterday visited Cran Dalgety’s racing stables in West Melton, near Christchurch, where star harness racer Dexter Dunn, 28, has been a long-term driver. Dalgety, who is in Whangarei, said staff told him officers walked around the stables and then left.
Dalgety had not spoken to Dexter Dunn, who is in the United States, but said he would be ‘‘very surprised’’ if Dunn was involved in race fixing.
Dalgety said he had no part in any alleged race fixing and doubted what was alleged was possible. ‘‘I’d be driving a Lamborghini if there was that much money in it.’’
Earlier it emerged the NZ Derby at Addington, Christchurch, one of the most important events in the harness racing calendar, is one of the races being probed.
The NZ Derby, raced in April for three-year-old pacers, carried $200,000 in prizemoney and was won by Sheriff, driven by Orange and trained by McGrath.
McGrath, Dunn, Orange and Stuart are expected to appear in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday next week on race fixing charges. A 41-year-old woman is expected to appear in court the same day on two counts of supplying class B drugs.
Dunn and Orange were due to compete at events at Addington on Friday and Rangiora on Sunday, but are no longer listed as driving.
Stuff understands Wall, who has been charged with deception by match-fixing, is due to appear in the Palmerston North District Court on Tuesday next week.
Rasmussen, who runs All Stars Stables in Rolleston, confirmed she was interviewed for several hours by police on Tuesday and said her lawyers had told her not to comment.
She was ‘‘not too sure’’ when her next race would be. ‘‘Like I say I can’t talk about it.’’
Rasmussen is one half of the most successful training partnership in harness racing that New Zealand has seen.
With Mark Purdon, Rasmussen has trained the winners of three of the past four NZ Trotting Cups – two of them with champion pacer Lazarus – and dominated the lucrative two and three-year-old racing scene.
They are two of the biggest names in the sport worldwide.
Since forming the partnership with Purdon in 2014, the pair have trained runners to win more than $19.8 million in prizemoney.
Before relocating to New Zealand from Australia to join Purdon, Rasmussen trained and drove champion pacer Blacks A Fake to four Inter Dominion victories in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. The Inter Dominion is the richest race in Australasia.
Rasmussen and Purdon trained the last two winners of the race with Smolda and Lazarus.
Harness racing turns over about $220m a year in betting and receives about $40m from the Racing Board.
About 11,000 people are believed to own horses trained for harness racing, industry reports say.