Darren Weir joins Australian racing’s Hall of Shame

The Aquantia saga, Fine Cotton, Damien Oliver - these are a few of Australian racing’s biggest scandals but where do they rank alongside the Darren Weir controversy?

Damien Oliver at VRC Headquarters. Picture: Andrew Tauber

• ‘Sad fall’: Weir banned for four years
• Shattered Weir reduced to tears as career crumbles
• Stunning rise and fall of Australia’s biggest trainer

The Aquantia saga, Fine Cotton, Damien Oliver - these are a few of Australian racing’s biggest scandals but where do they rank alongside the Darren Weir controversy? JON ANDERSON reveals five of the most infamous incidents in racing.

1. FINE COTTON

There had been ring-ins before in Australia, too many to list here, but never one at the same financial scale and at the same level of ineptitude as Fine Cotton in 1984 at Eagle Farm racecourse in Brisbane. That high profile racing identities such as Bill and Robbie Waterhouse would risk suspension with a buffoon in the form of trainer Hayden Haitana made the whole episode more bizarre. Fine Cotton was a donkey who naturally enough opened at huge odds, with bookmakers unaware the horse had been replaced by a good horse in Bold Personality who ultimately won in a photo.

Fine Cotton with trainer Hayden Haitana in a 1985.

2. BIG PHILOU

When the warm favourite for the Melbourne Cup was scratched shortly before the race after being drugged, it was naturally massive news. When the trainer was Cups King Bart Cummings, who had won three of the past four Cups, it became a world wide story. Eventually a stablehand named Les Lewis was disqualified for life over his part in the doping, but Cummings maintained until his death that there was a Sydney-based mastermind behind the doping, but never named him for legal reasons.

Racehorse strapper Les Lewis confessed to doping 1969 Melbourne Cup favourite Big Philou.

3. AQUANITA RACING

A systematic operation of horse drenching involving eight licensed persons from Caulfield, most notably respected trainer Robert Smerdon whose family had been involved in the industry for over 100 years. Smerdon received a life ban after years of text messages proved stable hand Greg Nelligan had drenched horses on race days to improve their performance.

Trainer Robert Smerdon received a life ban. Picture: AAP

4. MEL SCHUMACHER

Tommy Hill on Summer Fair appeared to have the better of Mel Schumacher and Blue Era before “The Schu” and his mount fought back to win the 1961 AJC Derby by a nose. On returning to scale, Hill claimed that Schumacher had grabbed his leg and held it for 50 yards, retarding his mount. The head-on camera verified his claim. Summer Fair won on protest and Schumacher was initially banned for life before returning five years later.

5. DAMIEN OLIVER

It was October 1, 2010, when Oliver decided to part with $10,000 on a race he was riding in at a Moonee Valley night meeting. Oliver was riding second favourite Europa Point, so it made some sense that he would back his mount. Instead he decided to back the favourite Miss Octopussy, resulting in a profit of $11,000 when she bolted in. In November, 2012, he was banned from racing for eight months before returning to win the Melbourne Cup in 2013 on Fiorente.

Damien Oliver at VRC Headquarters. Picture: Andrew Tauber