Careless – or crooked?… By Rob Young

OK, we’re off again, but in Queensland this time!

Queensland’s leading trainer, at least in terms of wins across the state, has been whacked with 31 charges, count ‘em, 31, related to race day treatment, shockwave therapy, providing false evidence and obstructing a stewards’ investigation. Not much left out of that lot, really. Currie has been banned from racing horses until the conclusion of a stewards’ inquiry into the charges.

This comes hot on the heels of Currie’s father, Mark, also a licensed trainer, being disqualified for 2 years after being found guilty to 16 race day treatment charges, and also after three other members of the Currie stable had been suspended on similar charges.

What does it take for the message to get through? Surely, after four members of the Currie entourage being pinged by stewards, somebody in authority at the Currie operation must have developed the idea that the stewards were keeping an eyen on the situation in Toowoomba. Surely, somebody must have thought that it might be time to pull his or her collective heads in for a bit. Apparently not.

Given the publicity surrounding the Aquanita Saga, which related to race day treatments, remember, and the clear evidence that stewards do have the skills and capacity to get stuff out of mobile phone records, somebody in the Currie camp must have passed a comment or two over the morning coffee that now just might not be the time to do dodgy stuff. But here we are, with one of Queensland’s best known trainers facing a litany of charges that, fundamentally, relate to dishonesty and attempts to dodge the bullets.

I’m certainly not implying guilt here. That’s up to the appropriate authorities to determine after Ben Currie has had a chance to present a defence. But, one of the charges relates to returning a mobile phone to factory settings after the stewards had requested it to be turned over to them. If it’s true, that wasn’t a smart play. Why do that, if there is nothing to hide? Equally silly, if it’s true, is the claim that Currie told stewards that he did not have an iPad used in connection with racing. That could be checked very easily by your average seven year old, once they got their hands on the damn thing. Equally dumb was the alleged instruction by Currie to a stable hand to delete messages from his mobile phone in an attempt to obstruct stewards in the exercise of their duties. But the classic piece of idiocy, if it is true, is the text message on 23 May, 2016, to a staff member admitting to cheating.

It’s not far different to the evidence trail in the Aquanita case, is it?

But all of that aside, the really concerning thing in this case is the alleged use of shockwave therapy within the prohibited period prior to a race.

Shockwave therapy is used to treat musculoskeletal issues, soft tissue injuries and bone injuries in horses. It works, but it also has an analgesic effect, masking the pain that a horse would normally feel if it raced with those injuries or issues. So, if they are raced, the probability is that they would do further damage. That’s why there is a seven-day prohibition period. Horses cannot be treated with shockwave therapy during the seven days before their next race. To do so simply puts the horse’s welfare, and their future racing potential, at clear risk – and, for a professional horse trainer, that has to be either careless, or crooked. Certainly, if it were my horse being treated in that way, my financial asset being put at risk, I would be looking for a new trainer.

So, once again, we have an individual who has been regarded as a leading light in the training ranks charged with basic dishonesty. Who will be next?

It’s getting to be endemic, and it has to stop.

If these charges against Ben Currie are sustained, then the penalty has to be severe enough to be a deterrent to others following the same murky road. Anything less would simply mean that the racing authorities are just not fair dinkum – and in that circumstance, we would be looking over our shoulders for the next saga.

 

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