Morrisey’s suspension cut down on appeal
A LEADING Gold Coast horse trainer has had his suspension for doping a racehorse with cobalt reduced after appealing his original ban.
John Power Morrisey, who has been in the industry for 50 years, pleaded guilty to giving his horse Gorada the prohibited substance cobalt but asked for his nine-month disqualification to be reduced.
Morrisey, 68, told the Bulletin he was still unsure if he would retire or return to racing once he finished serving out his ban.
“I won’t be training again in the foreseeable future is all I know,” he said.
He transferred his horses to the care of his son, Scott Morrisey, when the original ban was imposed in April last year.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed and dropped his punishment to a nine-month suspension instead of a disqualification, which means he can attend racing industry events but not as a trainer. Previously, under disqualification, he could not attend any events.
The freeze on his trainer’s licence will be suspended after he has served five months for an operational period of one year.
Morrisey was found guilty after Gorada won at a race meet on December 31, 2016, and was tested after the race. The mare had 200mg of cobalt in her urine sample – more than twice the allowed amount.
The QCAT documents show Morrisey began feeding Gorada a supplement called Bleedex because she and another horse were “mad crazy sweating horses” and he wanted to see if it would help.
Bleedex, imported from Ireland, claims to be free of prohibited substances but does list cobalt sulphate as an ingredient.