Rockhampton trainer Tom Smith given reprieve by Queensland Racing Appeals Panel after video captured him striking horse with poly pipe

Rockhampton trainer Tom Smith has his penalty varied and will be allowed to continue training despite being captured on CCTV footage striking a horse he trained.

Trainer Tom Smith.

Rockhampton trainer Tom Smith has his penalty varied and will be allowed to continue training despite being captured on CCTV footage striking a horse he trained.

In January, Queensland stewards charged the 26-year-old under Australian Rule of Racing AR 228(b) “misconduct, improper conduct or unseemly behaviour” relating to an incident that took place at the Rockhampton Jockey Club pool in July last year.

During a 33-minute period in which Smith attempted to swim the colt, now named Better Storm, the trainer was found to have used a poly pipe to strike the horse on multiple occasions, including shortening it to use it as a blunt force object.

Smith also forcefully struck “the yearling in the lower right jaw region with a closed left fist” and used “excessive force with the stallion chain on a number of occasions over an extended period of time until the yearling displayed adverse behaviour and attempted to run up the ramp”.

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His actions were caught on CCTV.

Stewards initially suspended Smith for six months, three of them suspended for 24 months, with Smith appealing the penalty.

Smith’s counsel Jim Murdoch KC argued that it should be noted that the pool staff were “actively involved in efforts to get the horse into the pool” and none of the equipment used on the colt was “prohibited”, in fact the poly pipe was made available by Rockhampton Jockey Club.

“There was no evil intent, there was no bad purpose, there was no dishonesty – none of those matters that give rise to improper conduct under the rules,” Murdoch said at the appeal hearing.

The Queensland Racing Appeals Panel (QRAP) decision on Thursday morning described the trainer’s conduct as “poor horsemanship” that had “no regard at all for the yearling’s wellbeing”.

However, QRAP said “mitigating factors” – including an early guilty plea and the fact the trainer had no previous notable breaches of the rules – warranted a variation of the penalty.

Smith will be permitted to continue training, with his six-month suspension “wholly suspended for a period of 12 months” on the condition there were no similar breaches in that period.

Smith was also issued with a $5000 fine.

Originally published as Rockhampton trainer Tom Smith given reprieve by Queensland Racing Appeals Panel after video captured him striking horse with poly pipe