Cobalt saga: Chief steward Terry Bailey rejects allegation that Kane Ashby doctored certificates

VICTORIA’S chief steward Terry Bailey has leapt to the defence of QRIC Independent Reviewer Kane Ashby, whose name was dragged into the cobalt saga in Melbourne this week.

Racing Victoria investigators Dion Villella and Kane Ashby (right) visit some of the Flemington in 2013. Picture: Colleen Petch

VICTORIA’S chief steward Terry Bailey has leapt to the defence of QRIC independent reviewer Kane Ashby, whose name was dragged into the cobalt saga in Melbourne this week.

Ashby is set to be a key witness as the cobalt appeal hearings of trainers Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh continue next week.

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Ashby will be questioned about an email he sent to David Batty at Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) in October 2014.

At the time, Ashby was Racing Victoria’s manager of ­steward compliance and regulation. In the email to Batty, he requested that new certificates of analysis be obtained that were approved by NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities).

The NATA stamp of approval is a key plank in the ­defence of O’Brien and Kavanagh, who are facing four and three-year bans respectively.

In evidence presented to VCAT on Thursday, vet Tom Brennan, who is serving a five-year ban over his role in the cobalt saga, claimed certificates had been “doctored”.

“I’ve read Kane Ashby’s statement we got from the stewards. The certificates have been doctored-up in my belief and were attempted to pass over like they were accredited and everything was done correctly,” G1X.com.au reported Brennan as saying on Thursday.

Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett declined to buy into the accusation.

“The QRIC is aware of the current VCAT hearing in Victoria. As the matter is ongoing it would not be appropriate for the Commission to make any comment at this time,” Barnett said.

But Racing Victoria’s chairman of stewards Bailey dismissed Brennan’s assertion as “plain wrong” on Thursday and said Ashby had done nothing untoward.

Dion Villella (left) and Kane Ashby. Picture: Michael Klein

“There was no doctoring at all,” Bailey said.

“And to suggest Kane Ashby has done anything wrong is ridiculous.”

Bailey said the email in question was simply a request for the certificate to be printed on the correct letter head.

The hearings continued in Melbourne on Thursday, with Brennan again in the witness seat for most of the day.

Ashby was appointed to the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission last month as an independent reviewer for licensees who challenge penalties handed down by stewards.

Originally published as Cobalt saga: Chief steward Terry Bailey rejects allegation that Kane Ashby doctored certificates