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Racing Victoria continuing to fight cobalt case

Trainer Danny O'Brien is at the centre of racing's cobalt scandal. (AAP Image/Darren McNamara)
Editor
26th April, 2017
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The long-winding ‘cobalt saga’ that has wrapped up trainers Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh will continue despite the pair having been exonerated, thanks to an appeal from Racing Victoria.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal absolved the two trainers of any charges involving the case.

A case that stems from the use of a substance called cobalt that has been the subject of controversy in the racing industry in recent times.

What is cobalt?
Cobalt is a substance that appears naturally in most animals, including horses, but at low levels and is found as an element of certain vitamins in the system.

While nothing out of the ordinary at natural levels, increased amounts of cobalt in the body has been found to increase red blood cell counts.

Higher blood cell counts create more oxygen flow, thus greater endurance and power.

What’s the limit?
Victoria was the first state to introduce a threshold on the substance back in April, 2014.

Shortly after that, on January 1, 2015, Racing Australia enforced an initial national limit, placing a boundary on cobalt of 200 micrograms per litre of urine.

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On September 1, 2016, that limit was halved to 100 micrograms in an effort to reduce levels as close to the natural amount as possible.

On top of the September changes, Racing Australia created a tighter net around the substance by introducing a plasma cobalt threshold of 25 micrograms per litre.

What’s happened in the case?
Kavanagh and O’Brien were first notified of a positive cobalt test more than two years ago now, but have been running in and out of the courts fighting the controversial situation since.

A ruling from the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board was handed down, disqualifying the training licenses of O’Brien and Kavanagh for four and three years respectively.

Their appeal began on August 1 last year when they took the matter to the Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). After pleading their case against the initial testing and results that had them banned in the first place, VCAT overturned the initial ruling and exonerated them earlier this year.

What’s next?
Racing Victoria have announced their decision to appeal the overruling. An appeal on an appeal if you will.

On June 9, at 10.30am, a panel of three judges will hear an application from VR that will allow them leave to appeal the VCAT decision.

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There’s no rest, though. If the application is successful in the morning, then VR will be allowed to appeal the VCAT decision later that same day in front of the Court Of Appeal of the Supreme Court.

With so many interpretations of the cobalt laws being thrown around from the early incarnations of the threshold, it’s hard to see Racing Victoria being knocked back by the judges in the morning appeal.

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