Tearful O’Brien attacks the ethics of stewards

DANNY O’Brien choked back tears yesterday as he told of Racing Victoria’s “unethical handling” of his cobalt case.

O’Brien, who with fellow trainer Mark Kavanagh is appealing a lengthy disqualification, slammed the issuing of a show cause notice demanding he justify why he should be allowed to continue training.

He told the Victorian Administrative and Civil Tribunal he was in his solicitor’s office when he received the notice via email on a Friday in July last year, at 5.23pm. Kavanagh and Lee and Shannon Hope also received similar show cause notices.

O’Brien, who has a satellite stable at Barwon Heads, said the notices led the 6pm TV news after channels Nine and Seven had been “backgrounded”, causing stress to his family and staff. He said his seven-year-old son was at a friend’s home and saw the bulletin.

“When he came back home that night he asked me if I would be going to jail,” he said.

“It was incredibly unethical that this was dropped on us at 5.23pm on a Friday night and had been scripted to appear on the news services . . . at 6pm.”

The hearing also was told yesterday Racing Victoria chairman David Moodie had told former Caulfield trainer Peter Moody that Kavanagh and O’Brien had horses that tested positive to cobalt.

O’Brien said that although he had not spoken to Moody for about 18 months, the trainer phoned to tell him he was about to be informed by stewards of the results.

Moody was told the previous day — January 13 last year — his stayer Lidari had returned a positive.

Moodie, who was not RV chairman at the time but was a board member, informed the Racing Integrity Council and the RV board of the phone call.

Barrister Damian Sheales, for O’Brien and Kavanagh, asked O’Brien about the events of the morning when he was told of the positive test.

“(Moody) rang me and informed me Mark Kavanagh had a positive to cobalt and informed me he had just got off the phone from Mark and stewards were with him so it obviously confirmed to me Mark had a positive to cobalt and that he had heard a similar rumour that I also had a positive cobalt,” O’Brien said.

Asked by Sheales if Moody had since told him the source of the information, O’Brien said: “Yes, it came from the board member David Moodie, who is now the RV chairman.”