OLIVER GETS OFF WITH A REPRIMAND

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board has upheld an appeal by Damien Oliver against the severity of a one month suspension which was imposed by Racing Victoria Limited after Oliver had returned a positive test for the prohibited substance ephedrine at Flemington on October 31. The penalty has been downgraded to a severe reprimand.

Oliver’s defence was based on the fact that problem stemmed from a herbal supplement he had been taking for the last nine years without encountering any issues in spite of being tested on numerous occasions. He therefore had no reason to believe that breaching the rules by continuing to take the supplement.

Ephedrine was in fact only placed on the Racing Victoria Limited list of banned substances in October 2008 and the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board found, “that the system and method of communication of the rules of racing, to riders in particular, falls well short of what should be expected of the governing body of racing.”

The Chairman of the Board urged Racing Victoria Limited to address the problem as a matter of urgency.

The board accepted Oliver’s explanation and upheld his appeal.

Oliver was philosophical about the outcome.

“If I'd known that I couldn't take the product that I was taking, I certainly wouldn't have taken it in the first place,” said Oliver. “I felt I was entitled to be warned that I couldn't take it. It brings to light the fact that the communication details aren't up to scratch from RVL and that needs to be addressed. If I have to go through this for all the jockeys to be aware of that, then so be it."

With his suspension set aside, Oliver can now concentrate on two important rides in feature races over the next fortnight. Oliver will partner Snipers Bullet in the Kingston Town Stakes at Ascot this weekend. Then he will fly off to join Apache Cat in Hong Kong where the duo will attempt provide Australia with another international success when they take their place in the line-up for the Group 1, Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint over 1200m.

Australia have a three-pronged attack in the race as the Daniel Morton trained Scenic Blast and the Grahame Begg trained All Silent will also face the starter.

Apache Cat leaves for Hong Kong today.

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