ONE wonders if disqualified trainer John O’Shea regards Sydney racing as a level playing field when it comes to integrity. According to this story by for Fairfax Media, O’Shea could be in more stripe:
RACING NSW officials have launched an investigation into the conduct of Group 1-winning trainer John O’Shea while serving a four-month disqualification.
The Randwick trainer, who has more than 30 Group 1 wins, has been disqualified since March 17 after pleading guilty to three charges of improper conduct when arguing with two Racing NSW veterinarians following the scratching of Bev’s Nine behind the barriers at Rosehill on February 21.
O’Shea was originally banned for four months, then had the sanction quashed on a legal point on appeal before that panel replaced it with a two-month penalty.
Both O’Shea and Racing NSW challenged that decision at the Racing Appeals Tribunal, which found in favour of the regulator and reinstated the original four-month disqualification.
The former Godolphin trainer’s operation, which also takes in stables at Hawkesbury, has continued under O’Shea’s training partner Tom Charlton.
Under the Rules of Racing, disqualified people must adhere to a long list of restrictions, including associating with licensed participants without approval and participating in any way in the preparation for racing or training of any horse.
The Herald understands concerns about O’Shea’s conduct while disqualified intensified at Warwick Farm on Wednesday after the Charlton-trained Hovland won the fourth race with Tommy Berry on board.
Berry told Sky Racing in the post-race interview, when asked about his tactics on the horse, that: “I had the opinion of being a lot more positive this morning when I spoke to Tom and John, and full credit to them, they didn’t want me to be that positive”.
Racing NSW stewards then spoke to Berry and examined his phone. As part of the investigation, stewards also spoke to Charlton and stable apprentice jockey Anna Roper at the meeting.
The investigation is ongoing. If O’Shea is charged and found guilty of breaching conditions of his disqualification, he could have his ban extended.
STEWARDS are certainly being very aggressive when it comes to policing the O’Shea situation. There are those – with all due respects – that believe (in different circumstances) they are not prepared to be so vigilant when it comes to form reversals, second string runners beating stable favourites and suspect rides on horses from the leading stable. You be the judge.
What, one suspects, John O’Shea would subscribe to is my theory that racing in Sydney and NSW would be far better served by the appointment of a no-nonsense, hard-hitting Chief Steward who dislikes trainers from New Zealand.
Pigs will fly before that happens in NSW.
