By Chris Roots
Metropolitan winner Junoob was disqualified and Sydney's premier trainer Chris Waller fined $30,000 after a positive swab to the diuretic Frusemide, better known as Lasix, following the group 1.
Waller fronted Racing NSW stewards on Thursday, the day after the second certification for Frusemide was received from the racing laboratories for Junoob in The Metropolitan, which was run at Randwick on October 4.
Junuub streaks to victory during October's Metropolitan.Credit: Getty Images
He pleaded guilty to a charge of taking Junoob to the races with a prohibited substance in his system, namely Frusemide.
However, more embarrassing was the revelation of the stable's use of the drug during the inquiry. It is routinely used on most horses before they work fast.
Disqualified: Heroes of The Metropolitan Blake Shinn and Junoob.Credit: Getty Images
"It is embarrassing ," Waller said. "I have had to live with this for six weeks waiting for this day and you wouldn't put yourself through that knowingly. It was mistake and we have learnt from our mistake and changed our procedures.
"The rules are clear and I have respect for them and the process the stewards had to go through and they did their job."
Waller said he would not appeal against the findings after living with the positive test since November 3, the day before the Melbourne Cup. Junoob proved the strongest stayer in The Metropolitan, holding off stablemate Opinion and Araldo. It also earned him 1 kg penalties for the Caulfield and Melbourne cups, where he ran subsequently.
It appears Junoob was mistakenly given Frusemide as eight horses from his barn were given the treatment by trusted forewoman Analese Trollope.
The list of horses to be given the drug was drawn up the night before and only Trollope or Peter Muscatt administer the drug.
Horses working fast get six millilitres of Frusemide before they gallop about 3.30am and it is part of Waller's philosophy. Lasix is usually given four hours before racing in the US, where its use is legal. Waller uses it two hours before a gallop as part of his training method.
"I believe it helps with the longevity of horse's career," Waller said. "It reduces the frequency of bleeding and reduces the chances of a horse bleeding. Every time they bleed they get closer to a major bleed."
Junoob was tested to be at 440ng/mL of Frusemide, in excess of 50ng/mL threshold.
Racing NSW chief vet Craig Suann said research suggested the treatment of Frusemide was given between 12 and 16 hours before the sample was taken.
Suann told the inquiry Frusemide could be a masking agent because it increases urination. It is also a performance enhancer when given four hours before a race in the absence of water because it increases the power-to-weight ratio of a horse.
In this case, neither was a factor, Suann says, because the length of time it was given before the race as the effect diminishes in short time.
Waller's good record of having only one sustained charge in 19 years as a trainer was in his favour at the time of penalty. Chief steward Ray Murrihy was at pains to point the food-contamination issue from last year was not taken into consideration because it was beyond the trainer's control.
"You must be the most swabbed trainer in Australia, about 50 per cent of runners would be tested [1544 runners in 2013-14]," Murrihy said in handing down the $30,000 fine. "There has to be a deterrent for this not to happen again."
Waller said he took no consolation that Opinion became the winner, which meant the stable kept the race.