Currie guilty of second positive but vows to fight both outcomes

AFTER being found guilty of a second positive swab charge on Thursday, Toowoomba trainer Ben Currie has indicated he will fight the findings of both cases.

Trainer Ben Currie and Clare Farrow with Honey Toast after winning the Toowoomba Cup in April this year. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

AFTER being found guilty of a second positive swab charge on Thursday, Toowoomba trainer Ben Currie has indicated he will fight the findings of both cases, arguing the testing procedures were flawed.

Currie was fined $6000 last week after being found guilty of presenting Tints to race in Rockhampton with the prohibited steroid boldenone.

At Thursday’s hearing, stewards found him guilty of presenting Toowoomba winner Party Till Dawn with a positive test to methamphetamine.

Stewards reserved their decision on penalty, preferring to give consideration to the submissions Currie made.

It is probable another fine will be issued, in line with other precedents for presentation offences.

Had stewards pressed ahead with a charge of administering the substances, Currie was looking at a disqualification, but in both cases, stewards found no evidence of administration.

Regardless, Currie, who is being represented by Jim Murdoch and Michael O’Connor, believes he has a strong case to appeal the guilty verdicts, despite the probable cost of appealing to QCAT being higher than the sum of the fines.

“No one wants to have two positive swabs on their record and I believe the evidence we presented gives us a very strong case to have the rulings overturned on appeal,” Currie said.

Trainer Ben Currie and Clare Farrow with Honey Toast after winning the Toowoomba Cup in April. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

In the case of Party Till Dawn, Currie claims there was a security breach with the sample, while in regards to Tints he will argue on appeal that there were procedural errors in the testing of the sample. He noted hair samples taken from Tints came back negative.

He will also argue the methamphetamine found in the system of Party Till Dawn was so minute, there wasn’t enough to get a proper reading.

Several Queensland trainers have had guilty verdicts overturned in the past 18 months owing to legal errors in the testing process.

Stewards declined to comment on the case yesterday, with QRIC instead releasing a statement attributed to Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett.

“As the matter is potentially the subject of internal review and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal it is not appropriate to make further comment at this stage,” the statement said.

Originally published as Currie guilty of second positive but vows to fight both outcomes