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Before the Racing NSW Appeal Panel

Paul Murray
Licensed trainer Paul Murray has lodged an appeal against conviction and penalty after being found guilty by the Stewards under AR 175(h)(i), AR 175(h)(ii), AR 178, AR 80E(1) and AR 177B(5). Mr Murray was disqualified for a total of 3½ years, thus allowing Mr Murray to reapply for his trainer's licence on 8 September 2020. This followed the detection of a prohibited substance in a stored sample taken from Alma’s Fury after that horse was placed 2nd in the Doncaster Prelude on 13 April 2013 and the discovery of a bottle labelled “Concentrated Trace Mineral” at Mr Murray’s stables on 17 June 2014.
*Please note that the dates of 22 May 2017 to 24 May 2017 and if required a further two days 7, 8 June 2017 scheduled for hearing this appeal were vacated pending the outcome of decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal in the matters of O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh in respect of related legal points. That decision was handed down in late 2017 - this appeal has now been set for Monday 26, 27 and 28th of February 2018 at the office of Racing NSW commencing at 9.30am.

Colette Cooper
Licensed trainer Colette Cooper has lodged an appeal against penalty after being found guilty by the stewards under AR178 and AR178F. Ms Cooper was fined $500 and disqualified for a total of 9 months, thus allowing Ms Cooper to re-apply for her trainer's license on 12 October 2018. This followed the detection of a prohibited substance in a pre-race blood and urine sample taken from Koop Creek prior to the gelding finishing 2nd in Race 5 Silver City Cup conducted at Broken Hill on 28 October 2017. The appellant did not apply for a stay of proceedings. A date for this appeal is yet to be set.

John Sprague
Licensed Trainer John Sprague has lodged an appeal against conviction and penalty after being found guilty by the stewards under AR178. Following a steward’s inquiry on 3 January 2018, Mr Sprague was disqualified for a total of 12 months, thus allowing Mr Sprague to reapply for his trainer's licence on 3 January 2019. This followed the detection of a prohibited substance in a pre-race sample from Saint Denis after that horse placed 3rd in Race 3 the 1500m Maiden Plate run at Tuncurry Racecourse on 29 October 2017. On application of the Appellant, which was not opposed by the stewards, the penalty imposed by the Stewards is stayed until further order of the panel. A date for this appeal is yet to be set.

Michelle Steele
Ms Michelle Steele has lodged an appeal against conviction and penalty after being found guilty by the stewards under AR 175(q), AR175(o) and AR175A on 6 June 2017 when employed as Australian Turf Club (ATC) Mounted Security Division Co-ordinator. On 26th October 2017 Ms Steele lodged an appeal outside the specified 2 days after decision by the Stewards. In the circumstances, the Panel will defer dealing with the application made by Ms Steele until the appeal on jurisdiction to the RAT concerning Mr Dennis Mitchell is finalised.

Before the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal

Dennis Mitchell
Racing NSW has lodged an appeal with the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal against the decision on jurisdiction on 22 August 2017 from the Racing NSW Appeal Panel. A date for this Appeal is yet to be set.

Angelis Vasili
Racing NSW has lodged an appeal with the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal against the leniency of penalty in the decision of the Racing NSW Appeal Panel. The Panel, when confirming a finding of guilt for a breach of AR175(a), imposed a fine of $10,000 on Registered Owner Mr Angelis Vasili in lieu of a penalty of 4 months disqualification. A date for this Appeal is yet to be set. An application by Mr Vasili to lodge his own appeal out of time was rejected by the Tribunal under clause 6(7) of the Racing Appeals Tribunal Regulation 2015. Mr Vasili has challenged the Tribunal’s decision to the Supreme Court. The parties have agreed and the Tribunal notes and adopts the position of both parties that the Tribunal take no further action in this appeal pending the resolution of the Supreme Court proceedings.

Samuel Kavanagh
Samuel Kavanagh has lodged an appeal to the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal against the decision of the Racing NSW Appeal Panel to disqualify him for a total of six (6) years and three (3) months and fine him $3000 for breaches of a number of Australian Rules of Racing.

Tom Brennan
Dr Tom Brennan has lodged an appeal to the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal against the decision of the Racing NSW Appeal Panel to disqualify him for a total of four (4) years for breaches of a number of Australian Rules of Racing.

Adam Matthews
Racing NSW has lodged an appeal with the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal against the decision of the Racing NSW Appeal Panel to uphold an appeal by Dr Adam Matthews against five charges.
*Please note that the dates of 30 May 2017 to 2 June 2017 scheduled for hearing the Kavanagh, T Brennan and A Matthews appeals were vacated pending the outcome of decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal in the matters of O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh in respect of related legal points. That decision was handed down in late 2017. New dates will be notified for these appeals as soon as they are settled.