THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - UPDATE ON COBALT CASES ... AND A FIRST AT FANNY BAY!

By Graham Potter | Sunday, March 22, 2015

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

After too long a delay Racing Queensland have finally named two thoroughbred trainers whose runners returned elevated cobalt readings beyond the legal level.

One of those trainers, Len Treloar, is a former Sunshine Coast Trainers’ Premiership winner. The other is Jamie McConachy whose runner Vandalised returned an illegal reading following his Rockhampton Cup victory last year.

Treloar shocked many when he handed in his license towards the end of last season. The seasoned trainer, who had international experience with an extended spell in Singapore, cited business reasons for his decision, explaining that his training setup was no longer financially viable.

With regard to these latest developments, even though he is no longer a licensed trainer, Racing Queensland has tried to contact Treloar but have been unable to do so. Chances are a ruling will be given in his absence.

So after a huge, disturbing saga one thoroughbred trainer, from Rockhampton, will face the music leaving all of those trainers whose names have been mentioned in idle or malicious gossip to continue on as innocent parties.

The lesson here is simple enough. Find and punish those who transgress the rules but speed up the process so that those who have done nothing wrong are ‘cleared’ before their names are bandied about in a speculative manner which can unfairly dent reputations.

This episode, with names of those being investigated being withheld unto the eleventh hour, took far too long to reach a conclusion which, as bad an outcome as it was for Treloar and McConachy, ultimately turned out to be a storm in a tea-cup.

The dragging out of the process is not only found in Queensland. Victoria still has to complete an investigation into high levels of cobalt returned by horses in the care of top trainers Peter Moody, Mark Kavanagh, Danny O'Brien and the Lee and Shannon Hope training partnership, but at least those under investigation were named early in proceedings.

To emphasise the seriousness of the cobalt issue, on Friday New South Wales stewards handed trainer Darren Smith a fifteen year disqualification.

Smith had previously been found guilty of taking excess to excess, being found guilty on forty-two cobalt related charges reportedly involving seventeen individual horses in twenty races, (winning eleven of them). The horses involved were all disqualified. Smith is appealing the verdict.

***************************************************************************************************

A urine sample of a different kind has flushed Darwin trainer Chris Pollard’s training career down the toilet for the next twelve months.

That is the suspension Pollard has picked up for ... wait for it ... indecently exposing himself and urinating on the stewards' room window at Fannie Bay racecourse.

A press release from the Chairman of Stewards in the Northern Territory explained the particulars of Pollard’s misconduct.

It states: "The specifics being that on the evening of Friday 6 March, 2015 at the Darwin Turf Club when intoxicated and positioned outside the full-length panel windows of the Stewards' Room and in full view of at least two TRNT female staff members, he (Pollard) did indecently expose himself and urinate on the uncovered glass whilst an official Stewards inquiry was in progress."

Was Pollard aiming to make a statement or was he just in an unfortunate condition, in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Whatever the answer ... that’s got to be a first!

More articles