FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: ESSENDON FINDING SETS A PRECEDENT WHICH CAN HAVE RAMIFICATIONS FOR RACING

By John Schreck | Wednesday, January 13, 2016

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Shreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

The findings against the Essendon Football club and thirty four players yesterday set a serious precedent in that it ruled that a conviction in relation to prohibited substances can be sustained without any indication of a positive test ... and it is important to consider whether that might have any ramifications for the racing industry.

The whole Essendon case centred around circumstantial evidence. None of those players have returned a positive test yet their lives have been ruined because of that circumstantial evidence.

I have, over the years, talked about circumstantial evidence many, many times and the use of it in domestic tribunals.

I’ll give you an example of circumstantial evidence.

Robinson Crusoe strolling along the beach on the island, presuming he is there by himself, comes across a set of footprints. While that is not conclusive proof that somebody else is on the island with him, it is a pretty fair indication that somebody else is there ... and that’s what circumstantial evidence is all about.

It has its place in legal argument but, as I said, in terms of being applied to prohibitive substances, the Essenden ruling does set a precedent in terms of the fact that it has sustained a case without a positive test.

That has already had serious consequences for Essendon and its players. It could have serious consequences for others in future.

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I am critical of the ‘fly in and fly out’ lawyers that played a part in the Essenden case.

None of them are Australians and none of them understand the sport and I just worry about these people determining issues for what should be domestic tribunals in Australia.

Ben McDevitt, the head of ASADA, was critical of the independent tribunal set up by the AFL.

He said they got it wrong because they were setting the standard for breach too high but my argument would be that if these people are going to destroy someone’s livelihood and reputation on circumstantial evidence they have probably set the standard for comfortable satisfaction too low.

It really should have to get to a level of almost beyond a reasonable doubt, the criminal criteria, particularly when you are talking about circumstantial evidence and outcomes that are so draconian.

Jobe Watson and all the others will forever be known as drug cheats, yet they never returned returned a positive test to a prohibited substance.

Hopefully such an injustice will never be imposed upon the sport of horse racing.

McDevitt is very pro the sport not governing itself as far as judicial issues are concerned and, it is important to note, that is the track down which Queensland Racing are talking about going ... and that is a direction I would worry about.

Having the handling of such issues divorced from racing altogether is a path fraught with dangers.

The sport has done pretty well for two hundred years without the need for something like that and I would hope it doesn’t go down that track.

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Victorian racing will be trialling a thirty minute break between races for a week in February and I applaud the administrators for trying to speed up the game.

Whilst I understand the pressure that will put stewards under with their workload, they have to adjust their thinking to fit into the modern way in which racing has to be presented.

If that means adjourned enquiries, so be it. The problems that the shorter time between races might create simply have to be managed by those who are affected by it.

As I said in last week’s blog, racing has to now reinvent itself to stay alive.

There is too much down time between races and that is one of the problems that the sport faces. People these days like non-stop action, like at the casinos you can play roulette every couple of minutes when the ball spins.

While racing can’t match that, there is much it can do to close the gap on what it presents and what people want so Victoria’s ‘time trial’ looks to be very much a step in the right direction.

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Getting back to the steward’s workload on race-day, in relation to it fitting in with the proposed shorter timeframe between races, I think things could be reassessed with the following in mind.

With the good quality race videos that we have these days the days of stewards going out and taking up positions around the track are probably numbered.

That was the old fashioned way of doing it when there weren’t any films or videos and it has just carried on from then until now. Those sort of things should be looked at whether the time between races is shortened or not.

Stewards would be more useful back in the room. They could be watching the film while horses are pulling up for example. They could be right there, ready to weigh in the jockeys as soon as they come back ... and more.

What was good fifty years ago is not necessarily good today.

Most racing jurisdictions are short of stipendiary stewards anyway but with the improved technology there are ways to manage that which I think should be considered.

Remember, a small change can make a big difference.

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