EPO charges against trainer Jarrod McLean delayed by unrelated alleged animal cruelty case
Stood-down trainer Jarrod McLean’s fight to clear his name against alleged EPO possession will have to wait until he answers animal cruelty and conspiracy allegations in the Magistrates Court.
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Charges against Jarrod McLean involving alleged possession of performance-enhancing EPO have been adjourned until October by the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
McLean is accused of administering EPO to Perth Cup winner Cats Fun over a five-year period from 2009 to 2014 after police seized blood-covered syringes at the trainer’s Yangery home on January 30 last year.
McLean is facing several unrelated criminal charges over animal cruelty and conspiracy allegations, which will be heard in the Magistrates Court in Ballarat in September.
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Indefinitely stood down from training, McLean is due to return to the Supreme Court this month in an attempt to overturn a ruling which allowed Victoria Police to share evidence with Racing Victoria stewards.
RV used police information to charge McLean with administration of a prohibited substance to affect race performance, possession of a prohibited substance, corruption, dishonesty and misleading behaviour and conduct prejudicial to the image of racing.
The VRT adjourned the matter on Friday, ruling indictable criminal matters against McLean, Tyson Kermond and William Hernan should be heard first in the Magistrates Court.
The trio, along with disqualified trainer Darren Weir, faces more than 30 charges stemming from a covert police operation which allegedly uncovered sickening animal cruelty towards racehorses Red Cardinal, Yogi and Tosen Basil.
The three horses were allegedly struck with plastic pipes and hit with electronic devices known as jiggers while they worked on treadmills during the 2018 spring carnival when both McLean and Weir trained Group 1 winners.
Victoria Police’s sports integrity unit is known to have secretly filmed activity in Weir’s former Ballarat and Warrnambool stables before the raids.
Weir is currently serving a four-year disqualification for the possession of three jiggers, uncovered during the January 2019 raids.
Kermond and Hernan will return to the VRT on October 2 to answer charges of failing to properly give evidence to stewards.
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