Darren Weir handed two-year ban over the use of jiggers

Disgraced trainer Darren Weir has been handed a further two-year disqualification for using an electronic shock device on three horses.

The Victorian Racing Tribunal on Friday slapped Weir with a two-year disqualification for each of the three applications, but the penalties can be served concurrently.

Darren Weir won the 2015 Melbourne Cup with Prince of Penzance, which was ridden by Michelle Payne.Credit: Jason South

Weir’s former employees Jarrod McLean and Tyson Kermond were hit with disqualifications of 18 months and six months respectively for their roles.

The tribunal will determine at a later date whether the penalties can be backdated, despite initially saying they were effective immediately.

The charges stem from the use of electronic shock devices, known as jiggers, on racehorses Tosen Basil, Red Cardinal and Yogi days before the 2018 Melbourne Cup.

Weir has already served a four-year disqualification, which finished in February 2023, for the possession of three electronic shock devices.

Weir and McLean were fined $36,000 each, and Kermond was ordered to make a $10,000 donation to the RSPCA by the Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court in December 2022 after pleading guilty to animal abuse charges for using jiggers on the horses.

Despite what Judge John Bowman described as a “powerful collection” of character references for Weir, the three-person panel of Bowman, Judge Kathryn Kings and Des Gleeson said the former trainer had committed a “major offence that should attract a significant penalty”.

Delivering the sentence, Bowman accepted Weir had been genuinely remorseful and had co-operated with stewards, but these did not constitute “special circumstances” warranting a reduction from the minimum penalty of two years.

“The bottom line is he was the person in charge of the horse, the stables and the situation, he was the boss, he was the hands-on person who actually committed these serious offences,” Bowman said.

“He was in charge of, and was the administrator of, a procedure that is abhorrent and deserving of condemnation.”

Bowman said it was a “fair and appropriate penalty”. Racing Victoria had pushed for a 10-year ban.

Weir can no longer run his successful pre-training business, Trevenson Park, in central Victoria.

Under racing rules, disqualified people, unlike those suspended, cannot be involved with horses.

His pre-training business was an operation he could run while unlicensed. The horses he was involved with had to be in a licensed training stable at least 28 days before competing in a race.

His clients included leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller, who trained the champion Winx, and owner Lloyd Williams, who has won the Melbourne Cup seven times.

Weir was a central figure in one of Australian turf’s most famous victories, combining with jockey Michelle Payne to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup with Prince Of Penzance, who had started at $101. Payne was the first female jockey to win Australia’s most famous race.

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