Darren Weir faces four-year ban from racing

Champion trainer Darren Weir is facing a four-year disqualification after a marathon hearing last night.

Horse trainer Darren Weir at Racing Victoria headquarters last night. Picture: AAP

Champion trainer Darren Weir is facing a four-year disqualification after a marathon stewards hearing at Racing Victoria headquarters that began last night and finished shortly after 1am today.

After more than nine hours of negotiations between the trainer, his legal representatives and Racing Victoria, an agreement was reached pending approval by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary (RAD) Board in coming days.

Weir’s stable foreman Jarrod McLean was allowed to retain his licence, with several conditions attached, ahead of further investigation into his involvement in the scandal.

Only horses trained by him — and not any under Weir’s name — will be allowed to be nominated and raced pending further hearings.

Two counts laid against stable employee Tyson Kermond were dropped.

Weir and McLean departed through a side exit about 1.15am to avoid waiting media at the end of the hearing.

The last significant case involving the use of jiggers involved trainer Paul Preusker and jockey Holly McKechnie in 2007. Preusker was banned for four years while McKechnie was outed for three years.

A similar penalty has been arrived at for Australia’s biggest trainer at the conclusion of the hearing into Weir.

Horse trainer Jarrod McLean last night. Picture: AAP

The Ballarat trainer and McLean, the stable foreman at Weir’s Warrnambool-training base, were appearing in the wake of last Wednesday’s stunning raids by Victorian and Australian Federal Police as well as racing integrity officers.

Weir was charged with six offences — three relating to using a “jigger”, an electronic apparatus capable of affecting the performance of a horse.

He was also charged with two counts of failing to give evidence at a stewards hearing last Thursday and charge of conduct prejudicial to the image, interests and welfare of racing.

He will not contest the charges related to the jigger or the prejudicial conduct count.

McLean, who trained recent Group 1 winner Trap For Fools, faced similar counts laid during the probe that has rocked Australian racing.

He will contest those counts.

Four year disqualification sought

Racing Victoria’s chief integrity officer Jamie Stier said Weir faces “serious charges of possessing three electrical apparatus and conduct prejudicial to the interests or image of racing. He has advised the stewards that he will not contest those charges which have drawn considerable negative publicity to the sport”.

“To that end, stewards have requested that the RAD Board expedite the hearing of Mr Weir’s charges at which point they will be seeking a four-year disqualification.

“The stewards note that investigations remain ongoing and that they reserve the right to act upon any new evidence that comes to hand during the course of those investigations,” Stier said.

Stewards have imposed strict conditions on Weir’s licence until that hearing preventing him from entering or racing any horse as a trainer or owner.

A firearm and cocaine were reportedly also found during the raids last Wednesday that resulted in the arrest of Weir, McLean and Kermond by police.

Victoria Police is conducting a separate investigation which Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson would probe “corrupting betting outcomes”. This could lead to jail time on a guilty finding, although that would be for the most extreme cases only. Animal cruelty allegations also form part of the investigation.

Swift response praised

Meanwhile, Victorian Racing Minister Martin Pakula paid tribute to Racing Victoria’s Stier and his team for the Weir investigation.

“I think they’ve handled this exceptionally well. It’s been very swift,” Mr Pakula said.

“They’ve ensured that both Mr Weir and Mr McClean get due process.

“They’ve demonstrated once again that in terms of Racing Victoria’s integrity, they will leave no stone unturned, and they will pursue any licensed person regardless of their stature if they believe they’ve done the wrong thing.

“The industry has demonstrated that when the industry becomes aware of someone that they believe is doing the wrong thing, that they will pursue that, and that they will catch you, and you will suffer extremely serious penalties.”

Mr Pakula dismissed a call from Animal Justice Party upper house MP Andy Meddick for a parliamentary inquiry into the racing industry and a life ban for Mr Weir.

“If we were to adopt the Animal Justice Party’s position on the racing industry, there wouldn’t be a racing industry,” Mr Pakula said.

“The Animal Justice Party has made it clear on many occasions that they frankly don’t support the greyhound racing industry, the racing industry more generally.

“The fact is we’ve had numerous inquiries, numerous changes to legislation, whether it be the inquiry into the greyhound racing industry (or) the inquiry that I ordered when I was first racing minister when we asked Paul Bitar to look at both the governance and integrity structures of Racing Victoria.”

Weir’s marathon hearing

The 2015 Melbourne Cup winning trainer and his offsider McLean arrived for the show cause hearing about 1.30pm yesterday.

Weir had earlier attended trials held at Terang in south-western Victoria, where several of his horses galloped.

Chief steward Robert Cram and colleagues Rob Montgomery and Corrie Waller chaired the in-camera hearing.

On the wall adorning the hearing room were nine photographs, among them one of Winx’s triumphs in the Cox Plate, but also that of the Weir-trained Cliff’s Edge winning at Caulfield last September.

As the hearing ticked into Tuesday, McLean appeared in the foyer of Racing Victoria headquarters to ask if there was a vending machine nearby.

Earlier, RV staff had ordered pizzas for those attending the negotiations as the length of the hearing passed six hours.

Weir’s horses were scratched from meetings held around Victoria on the weekend.

He had nominated 40 horses for an Ararat meeting on Wednesday and a further 16 at Sandown on the same day, but when final fields were confirmed, the horses had either been transferred to other trainers or withdrawn.

When nominations for Saturday’s meeting at Caulfield were published, Trap For Fools was still listed as a McLean stable runner.

Group 1 winners including Derby victor Extra Brut, Guineas winner Amphitrite and Toorak Handicap winner Land of Plenty have been transferred to other trainers.