‘No evil intent’: Trainer Tom Smith appeals for allegedly striking a colt with poly pipe

A young Queensland trainer suspended for allegedly striking an unnamed colt with a poly pipe had ‘no evil intent’, the Queensland Racing Appeals Panel heard on Monday.

Trainer Tom Smith has pleaded not guilty to a stewards’ charge of improper conduct.

A young Queensland trainer suspended for allegedly striking an unnamed colt with a poly pipe had “no evil intent”, the Queensland Racing Appeals Panel heard on Monday.

It is alleged Rockhampton trainer Tom Smith used a poly pipe as a “blunt force object” and a stallion chain in an attempt to swim the horse at the Rockhampton Jockey Club pool in July last year in an incident captured on CCTV.

It is also alleged that Smith, in one instance, forcefully struck the horse in the lower jaw region with a closed fist during a 33-minute period in which he tried to coax the thoroughbred into the pool.

Smith, 24, who has pleaded not guilty to a stewards’ charge of improper conduct, has been suspended for six months, with three months of that penalty suspended for two years.

Fellow Rockhampton trainer Jessica Kuhn was also at the pool that day and owned the stallion chain used on the colt but was not charged by stewards.

Smith’s representative Jim Murdoch KC said 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”.

“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,” said Murdoch, who argued that a fine would be a sufficient penalty for Smith.

Panel member Richard Oliver said that Smith should take full responsibility for what happened to the colt, regardless of the actions of pool staff.

“Clearly he was in charge of the horse,” Oliver said of Smith, who can continue to train under a stay order while the appeal is pending.

“The fact that they (pool staff) were standing by and seeing what’s happening and not stopping it doesn’t mean that your client is shifting control of the situation to the supervisor. I just don’t get that.”

Murdoch said because the experienced pool supervisor was not calling a halt to the failed attempts to get the colt into the water then Smith’s efforts “shouldn’t be seen as improper”.

“The horse doesn’t appear to have suffered any harm, except for a laceration to its hock,” Murdoch said.

“There was no psychological injury too. It didn’t go home and stand in the corner of its box shivering and shaking.

“It went home and cleaned its feed up and did trackwork the following day. There is no evidence to suggest that the horse was traumatised.

“I’m not being silly about it, I mean the horse was under stress. As Mr Oliver said, on reflection perhaps using the stallion chain was not a good idea.”

Scott McLeod KC, representing the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission, described the attempt to shift the focus to pool staff as “nonsense” and he pushed for the six-month suspension to stand.

“Mr Smith seems to seek to effectively play down his actions,” he said.

“With the greatest respect, that’s nonsense. The responsibility and the onus rested with Mr Smith, not others.”

Among the allegations listed in a stewards’ report dated March 13 were that “Smith struck the horse on several occasions using the poly pipe … and directly used it in the vicinity of the rib cage of the horse”.

Stewards also alleged that Smith attempted to pull the horse forward for an “excessive period of time resulting in the horse rearing up and falling, making heavy contact with the pool barrier partitions”.

The appeals panel reserved its judgment and is expected to make a decision on the matter by the end of this week.

Originally published as ‘No evil intent’: Trainer Tom Smith appeals for allegedly striking a colt with poly pipe