‘Jiggers’ shock treatment probe after Victorian Police sports integrity raids Darren Weir stables
Darren Weir will front Racing Victoria officials this afternoon as the focus on alleged animal cruelty investigations, based on secret video footage, intensifies. It comes as speculation mounts that the champion trainer will be stood down in the wake of yesterday’s raids.
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Champion trainer Darren Weir will front Racing Victoria officials this afternoon as the focus on alleged animal cruelty investigations, based on secret surveillance footage, intensifies.
The Herald Sun understands Weir, Jarrod McLean and Tyson Kermond have been asked to meet RV integrity staff at Flemington.
The move comes as stewards are continuing to sift through “all available information”, including footage taken from inside stables at Warrnambool and Ballarat.
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Victoria Police on Wednesday denied the existence of video footage of a horse being shocked with an electric device on a treadmill.
But is understood still images have been obtained from stables.
Weir is believed to have been shown those images during police interviews on Wednesday.
The latest developments come amid speculation Weir will be stood down in the wake of yesterday’s dawn stable raids.
RV’s head of integrity Jamie Stier indicated the investigation was likely “to progress today” as Racing Minister Martin Pakula made it clear he would not intervene in the case.
“I’m absolutely confident that stewards thoroughly consider all of the material before them when they decide whether to take action against licensed persons, and it would be completely inappropriate for me, as Racing Minister, to offer public commentary on their deliberations,” Mr Pakula said.
Weir, McLean and Kermond were arrested after a combined raid involving Victoria Police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit, Ballarat Police and RV stewards.
Four electric devices, described as “jiggers”, an unlicensed firearm and a small amount of a substance believed to be cocaine were seized.
Properties were raided in Ballarat and Warrnambool as part of a coordinated raid.
Weir, McLean and Kermond were released without charge after being questioned.
Weir has engaged barrister Patrick Wheelahan as his legal representative as stewards and Police assess evidence.
The Herald Sun understands several leading trainers, including some from interstate, are intending to approach RV to seek clarification over whether Weir should be allowed to continue training while the investigation continues.
Weir has 37 horses entered in multiple meetings over the next four days.
RV said it will not be pressured into any move until it assesses all available evidence.
It said: “The stewards have to consider all the information available to them which they are continuing to do.
“This is a complex matter and the stewards will need to be thorough in their processes and analysis of the information at hand and the circumstances of the case.”
‘JIGGERS’ PROBE RIP ‘BAND-AID’ OFF RACING: ASHTON
Animal cruelty allegations are at the centre of a police investigation into champion trainer Darren Weir, as the horseracing industry reels from another integrity crisis.
Investigators from Racing Victoria and Victoria Police’s sporting integrity intelligence unit are focusing on alleged mistreatment of horses.
Weir was arrested on Wednesday during dawn raids at his stables, before he was grilled for hours by investigators.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, who has bred and owned racehorses himself, says he considers the Victorian racing industry a “pretty clean sport” but that some people are “continuing to do the wrong thing.”
“They’ve had a tough period, but I think that’s also been evidence of the fact they’ve been taking a tough approach in dealing with it,” he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW.
“Some of the things they’ve dealt with have been things that have probably been happening a fair while.
“They’re ripping that Band-Aid off now and taking a serious approach, which is what you want.”
Four Taser-like devices known as “jiggers”, an unlicensed firearm and what is suspected to be cocaine were recovered during the raids on Weir’s stables and other properties at Ballarat, Warrnambool and nearby Yangery. Investigators moved in on the properties at 6am on Wednesday.
The battery-powered jiggers are used to send shockwaves through horses.
Staff were back before dawn to prepare for track work at Darren Weir’s Miners Rest stable on Thursday morning.
There was no sign of Darren Weir.
A staff member from a different stable, who asked not to be named, said after yesterday’s revelations he suspected Weir may spend the morning away from the track.
He said it had been a difficult 24 hours for the industry as a whole.
“It’s probably 50 per cent of it isn’t good for racing, 50 per cent is good because if he’s doing what we suspect he’s doing it’s good to clean it up,” he said.
“It’s better than letting it happen for years and looking back and saying ‘yeah he’s been doing it for years’.”
Mr Ashton said evidence seized during yesterday’s raids “support” the racing integrity probe.
He said investigators are yet to determine whether charges will be laid against champion trainer Darren Weir, fellow Group 1-winning trainer Jarrod McLean and another Warrnambool trainer.
“It is too early to see if there will be criminal charges or if it will be a matter for the regulatory environment of racing investigators,” he told 3AW.
“Those assessments will happen.”
Premier Daniel Andrews says if there had been wrongdoing in racing, those responsible should be punished to the full force of the law.
He said the racing industry relied on public confidence that its results were not being subverted. He said all potential breaches of integrity would be investigated by racing bodies without fear or favour — regardless of the success of the trainer.
“The government and all Victorians, particularly those who love horse racing, know and understand how important this sector is and it is founded on confidence that there is integrity,” Mr Andrews said.
“That is why we take these matters very seriously.”
It is understood authorities are investigating claims jiggers were used on horses while on treadmills, after blinkers had been put on the animals.
Typically, blinkers would be again used on race day in the hope the horses would associate it with the possibility of receiving an electric shock — tricking them into running faster.
Weir famously trained the 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance, a longshot ridden by Michelle Payne. Racing Victoria’s compliance and integrity officers initiated the probe almost two years ago.
Victoria Police became involved last year as the focus intensified on Weir, 48, fellow trainer Jarrod McLean, 38, and another Warrnambool man, 26.
The three men were arrested and taken to local police stations. Weir — who was co-operative with police — was interviewed for several hours with a lawyer present.
All were released about 3pm, Weir leaving without making comment.
Three jiggers were found at Miners Rest on the edge of Ballarat and one at Warrnambool, as police searched stables, homes, vehicles and sheds.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson said police would investigate offences including those relating to animal cruelty and engaging in conduct that would corrupt a betting outcome.
“We have initially located a number of items which police have seized, including what we believe to be an unregistered firearm, and three conducted energy devices — commonly called Tasers, or in the racing industry referred to as jiggers,” Mr Paterson said.
“At another property, we seized a fourth conducted energy device, and a small quantity of what we believe to be cocaine.”
A rifle was seized, and the Herald Sun understands computers and paperwork were also removed for examination.
The force’s sports integrity intelligence unit began its Weir inquiry last August after a referral from Racing Victoria integrity officers.
Australian Federal Police officers were part of the operation on Wednesday. Victoria Police said the AFP had highly technical searching equipment required for the work.
Police confirmed the investigation was ongoing. Racing Victoria said it had no information or evidence yet to stand down Weir or ban any of his horses.
Last year the Herald Sun revealed racing figures were allegedly doping champion horses with performance-enhancing sodium bicarbonate.
SUSPENSION CAME AFTER GROUP 1 WIN
It was only November last year that Jarrod McLean achieved the high point of his training career when Trap For Fools won the $2 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes.
A month later though McLean felt the wrath of the stewards and he was suspended for six weeks for telling the stewards a lie regarding the whereabouts of Trap For Fools on a race day.
On Wednesday he was arrested following raids on a Warrnambool stable where he works.
He was released without charge.
McLean only returned to training this week as did Trap For Fools to his stables.
In August last year he also trained Cougar Express to win the Grand National Hurdle at Sandown Hillside.
After Trap For Fools won, McLean, 38, said the win was life-changing for him.
“I’m still coming down. To win a Group 1 at the Flemington carnival is life-changing for me,’’ he said days after the win.
“The exposure for me and the opportunities as well as the financial side will make such a difference to me.”
Most of Weir’s Group 1 winners were prepared at McLean’s stables.
After Ringerdingding won the Sandown Guineas, Weir said that horse would certainly end up at Warrnambool.
“He gets all the good horses. He ends up training them,” Weir said at the time.
McLean became stable foreman for Weir three years ago and he has become integral to his stable.
He trains 25 horses at his stables at Warrnambool and supervises 55 for Weir.
“I’ve learnt so much from him. It’s busy juggling his stable and my stable down here, but it’s more than worthwhile with the horses I get to look after,” he told the Herald Sun.
In 2013, McLean was fined and disqualified for six months by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board after pleading guilty to a bicarb offence.
In December last year, the board imposed a six-week penalty after he was charged by stewards when five-year-old gelding Prymslea returned an elevated total carbon dioxide (TCO2) level at Mildura on August 30.
TALK, RUMOURS, THEN COPS SWOOP
There have been whispers for months and police on Wednesday made the bombshell swoop some suspected was coming.
At 6am, they moved on the mighty Darren Weir camp, raiding properties in the Ballarat and Warrnambool areas.
There was no protest from the master trainer when detectives arrived at his Miners Rest property.
He left quietly to be taken to Ballarat West police station and questioned in the presence of his lawyer.
Meanwhile, police went to work. They scoured every centimetre of four properties associated with the trainer.
Stables, horse floats, vehicles and houses came under the microscope of dozens of officers. Horses were led across the road by staff as police started to gather evidence.
Detectives and uniformed officers worked alongside Australian Federal Police, including some wearing National Anti-Gangs Squad uniforms.
The Herald Sun has been told the AFP officers were called in because of their superior searching equipment.
They could be seen examining a horse transport truck.
The heavy police presence remained at the property until about 12.30pm.
Victoria Police’s sporting integrity intelligence unit started work on the case five months ago.
They are believed to have been given a detailed referral from Racing Victoria’s integrity services team.
What sparked their initial interest is not clear but, in recent months, there has been persistent talk that the Weir team was under the microscope of integrity watchdogs.
Unfounded rumours have circulated about horses being Tasered while working on treadmills and videos of the mistreatment given to police.
When police moved in on Wednesday at Ballarat and Warrnambool, they found no Tasers but allegedly uncovered four devices known as “jiggers”.
A jigger is a small battery-powered device used by rogue operators to send a shock through a horse as a way to improve performance.
A small amount of what is believed to be cocaine was taken from a Warrnambool property and a rifle taken from Miners Rest. Those items will be examined, as will computers and paperwork.
It is expected betting and telephone records will also form part of the inquiry.
If Weir was concerned about Wednesday’s events, he was not showing it.
After being questioned for about five hours, he was driven from the police station, making no comment but giving a thumbs-up to the media. No charges were laid against him or the two other men arrested in the Warrnambool area.
Police said they were interviewed over sports integrity issues, among them obtaining financial advantage by deception, engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of an event or event contingency, use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes, and attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception.
Trainer Dan O’Sullivan, who has stables next door to Weir on Kennedys Rd, said he was not aware of the investigation until he saw police at the scene about 7am. Staff working at the stables said on Wednesday night it was “business as usual”, until they were told otherwise.
CALL FOR BAN OVER DEVICE USE
Any horse trainer or stable staff member caught using a jigger should be banned for life, one respected trainer says.
The trainer, who preferred not to be named, suggested that if anyone was found guilty of using such a device they had no place in the sport.
“These blokes should get life if they’ve used a jigger,” the trainer told the Herald Sun. “They are used to shock an animal; it’s irresponsible.
“It’s like using Tasers. It’s like a massive electrical shock.”
He said some farmers used such devices when they were loading cattle. “If they hit up a great big 500kg bullock it will climb over another 500kg bullock because it’s just so intense.
“It’s reprehensible. If it’s found to be true without a skerrick of doubt they should get life.”
Under the rules of racing, the use of a jigger would be classified under the “serious offences” section.
If anyone were charged under those rules, a hearing would be heard by the RAD (Racing Appeals and Disciplinary) Board, not Racing Victoria stewards.
Using an electrical device carries a minimum disqualification of two years, while for a racing industry staffer to be caught with a jigger carries no minimum penalty but is still classified as a serious offence.
One person who was familiar with jiggers many years ago said to be “jigged” meant to hold a device against a horse’s neck to shock the horse into running faster or trying harder.
“You can then replicate it in a race by hitting the horse on its neck with your whip handle, or ‘jacking’ it with a pin or object to simulate memory,” he said.
— with Josh Fagan in Ballarat and Monique Hore
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Originally published as ‘Jiggers’ shock treatment probe after Victorian Police sports integrity raids Darren Weir stables
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