AUSTRALIAN Turf Club executive manager of racing Matt Rudolph was grilled about where his loyalties lay in a meeting with Mark and Sam Kavanagh at the Lord Dudley Hotel as he gave evidence to a sub-committee of the Racing NSW board on Tuesday.

CHRIS ROOTS reports for FAIRFAX MEDIA that it was implied Rudolph's friendship with Flemington Equine Clinic partner Tom Brennan stood above concerns for trainer Sam Kavanagh,  stewards and racing in general. 

Kavanagh claims Brennan was the supplier of the vitamin complex bottle, which had a concentration of cobalt of 175 times that of any product registered for use in horses.

Rudolph was adamant  Brennan had not been the supplier. "Tell the truth" was the thrust of Rudolph's message to Kavanagh in the March 2 meeting with his father Mark at the Woollahra pub, adding,  "the Tom Brennan I know wouldn't do that."

Rudolph was asked about a history of stepping outside his ATC duties to help Brennan.

He was asked about a day in March 2014 when El Roca was a late scratching from the Hobartville Stakes, because of a treatment given by Flemington Equine Clinic within a clear day.

He also interceded with another Sky racing personality about the issue to try and get Brennan's story out, while exchanging messages with Brennan."'

Rudolph is being asked to show cause  why he should not be penalised for his part in the meeting.

"Earlier, Sam Kavanagh told the hearing his father, Melbourne trainer Mark Kavanagh and Rudolph, told him to change his evidence he had been supplied with cobalt by Brennan.

He said Rudolph told him  "don't throw people under the bus" at the meeting which became heated.

 "Matt Rudolph told me to 'take Tom out of this'," Kavanagh told the hearing. "I felt ambushed."

Mark Kavanagh is one of five Victorian trainers charged with cobalt offences and until late last year, Brennan was also his vet. Brennan has been charged by both NSW and Victorian stewards for supplying Sam Kavanagh with "Vitamin Complex" a substance later found to contain a large amount of cobalt.