MOODY BLUES
FEARS BLACK CAVIAR TRAINER TO GIVE UP GAME
CHAMPION trainer Peter Moody faces an impossible dilemma that could see him walk away from horse racing or risk being ruined by legal fees trying to fight cobalt charges.
The trainer of the legendary Black Caviar and four-time Melbourne premiership winner will consult his family before deciding if he will fight for his career and reputation after Racing Victoria yesterday charged him with administration of a prohibited substance.
Moody yesterday said he had expected to be charged with presentation but not administration of a prohibited substance, regarding Lidari’s positive drug test to cobalt.
“To be charged with administration is extremely disappointing,’’ a devastated Moody said yesterday.
“Presentation, of course, because there is no doubt that for whatever reason I can’t explain how the horse tested over the threshold but administration is very disappointing and now it’s in the hands of the lawyers.”
Moody’s biggest owners remain staunch, saying they will not prematurely abandon the trainer as he faces cobalt charges that could ruin his career.
Cobalt, at high levels, can assist in generating more red blood cells to carry oxygen through a horse’s body and thus allow a horse to perform at a peak level for longer without the onset of fatigue.
Sources close to Moody say he faces an “impossible’’ dilemma: fighting the charges could ruin him in legal fees and not fighting them would “make the world think he’d cheated’’.
He faces disqualification for up to three years – which would almost certainly prompt him to walk away from the sport – if found guilty of administering illegal levels of cobalt to Lidari, before it ran second in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington last spring.
But Moody and fellow Victorian trainers Mark Kavanagh, Danny O’Brien and Lee and Shannon Hope would face a far lesser penalty, maybe even a fine, if found guilty of presenting a horse with cobalt in its system.
One of Moody’s biggest owners, Racing Victoria chairman David Moodie, insisted he was not conflicted as industry “boss’’ and major supporter of Victoria’s most famous trainer.
Moody’s case will be heard before the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board at a date to be fixed. It is likely the Hopes, O’Brien and Kavanagh hearings will come first and it is appearing increasingly likely they will coincide with the spring racing carnival.
Moodie races dozens of horses with Moody, including the trainer’s most recent Group 1 success Flamberge, who won in Adelaide in May.
“There is presumed innocence in all such cases and Peter must now face an inquiry,’’ Moodie said, adding he was “very comfortable” he did not face any conflict of interest, a view supported by RV’s integrity team.
RV chief steward Terry Bailey and colleague Dion Villella visited Moody at his Caulfield stables early yesterday to inform him he faced three charges relating to Lidari.
Bailey said Moody accepted the charges “in a professional manner’’ and said his expla- nation for the illegal level was tested by stewards and “don’t explain those levels’’.
Bailey said he believed there were only two possible explanations for illegal cobalt levels.
“The scenarios are either they’ve received large doses prior to race day or received race day treatment. That’s about where we’re at,” he said.
Bailey said the first step towards charges being heard by the RAD board would be directions hearings but dates for these had not been set.