The positive swab, the trainer and his 12 mobile phones: A fight for racing’s integrity

When Luvareschs crossed the line first in race eight at the Newcastle Harness Racing Club on May 26, 2023, it was little surprise to the diehards watching on at the track and punters in pubs.

In a field of four, the winner, trained by Hunter Valley businessman Aaron Goadsby, had been the short-priced favourite and paid accordingly – just $1.12 for every $1 placed on it.

Aaron Goadsby, left, was warned off racecourses by Harness Racing NSW in June.Credit: Facebook

The seemingly ordinary penultimate race of that Friday night’s meeting, however, was the starting point for a NSW Supreme Court stoush that could have wide-reaching ramifications.

It concerns Goadsby’s refusal to hand over a dozen mobile phones he said he had used after he was disqualified last December for three months because of prohibited substances being detected in a post-race urine test on Luvareschs.

The 44-year-old, who owns a freight company called Pit Patrol and several other associated transport businesses, was in June warned off racecourses by Harness Racing NSW stewards until he produces the phones for scanning.

If and when he does turn them over, he would be banned for 12 months, they ruled.

Goadsby’s runners have raced under the banner of Goozdolphin Racing.Credit: Facebook

He is appealing that decision and simultaneously contesting racing authorities’ power to access his communications in the Supreme Court in Sydney, where a hearing has been scheduled for next month.

According to stewards, they wanted to copy the phones because of “intelligence” suggesting he was “in breach of the restrictions placed upon him as a disqualified person”.

They suspected he had remained involved in training pacers at his 12-hectare, $2.5 million property near Singleton while suspended, an allegation he denies.

Goadsby has not provided the handsets, claiming they contain material that is commercially sensitive and covered by legal professional privilege.

According to Supreme Court documents, he reported that during a six-week period from last December “he had used more than one phone and, in fact, had used quite a number of phones, perhaps 12, because he used other people’s phones during the course of his business activities, particularly over Christmas when his workers (in businesses unrelated to harness racing) were on leave”.

Contacted by this masthead, Goadsby declined to comment with an appeal and court action afoot. But a statement by Pit Patrol said he was acting on legal advice to safeguard the privacy of his company’s dealings with clients.

“Apart from these numerous devices, Mr Goadsby has supplied HRNSW with all other information that they requested and has made concerted and determined efforts to work with HRNSW to extract information from the phones that he is lawfully able to provide,” said the June 28 statement on Facebook.

“Regrettably, for reasons known only to them, HRNSW have refused to engage with him in any meaningful way.

“To resolve the issue, Mr Goadsby has been forced to make a formal application to the Supreme Court of New South Wales to bring HRNSW to the table and resolve the issue in a proper and lawful manner.”

While Goadsby is not a major player in the sport, he has been an industry sponsor as well as a trainer and has sent horses to race at its state headquarters at Menangle in south-western Sydney under the banner Goozdolphin Racing. He has also had a winner there on the Miracle Mile card – harness racing’s night of nights.

He pleaded guilty at an initial stewards inquiry over Luvareschs being presented on race night with prohibited substances in its system, but maintained that the anti-inflammatories detected did not constitute a doping-style offence. While he was not considered “blameless” by stewards, the horse’s positive test was found to be a result of stable contamination.

Professional gambler Stephen Fletcher took on Racing NSW over its access to his phone in 2019.

Even if it was determined that he had violated the terms of the suspension he received, he would be looking only at an additional disqualification of possibly three months.

The issue surrounding the phones is of greater significance, posing a challenge to the sweeping integrity powers racing’s regulatory bodies possess.

In 2019, professional gambler Stephen Fletcher unsuccessfully sought to prevent the full contents of his phone being inspected by stewards from Racing NSW, which controls the thoroughbred racing industry in the state.

He argued they should be restricted to data relating to an investigation into his links with a former TAB trading manager who had been warned off for not producing her phone. But the Supreme Court rubber-stamped Racing NSW’s right to go through his device.

Goadsby also failed in March when he applied for an injunction to stop further action being taken against him by stewards until his appeal had been exhausted.

However, the Supreme Court judge who dismissed that bid was “satisfied that there is a serious issue to be tried” in relation to the privileged information Goadsby says is on the phones and whether he should be compelled to hand them over.

Goadsby and Harness Racing NSW have since been unable to come to an agreement about how the contents of the phones might be scrutinised.

The trainer suggested in February that a third party be brought in to download the material from the handsets in the presence of representatives from both sides, and that he would then inspect the data to identify privileged and confidential material.

That suggestion was rejected by Harness Racing NSW.

It instead proposed the phones be presented two at a time to an independent, qualified person and for the copies of phone calls captured to be provided to its lawyers and Goadsby’s to determine which records should be redacted. If there was no agreement on particular calls, it set out that a member of its appeal panel would make the ultimate decision.

The Supreme Court hearing is listed for September 10.

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