SYDNEY (AP) – One of Australia’s top thoroughbred horse trainers and a prominent owner have been charged in relation to a race at Sydney’s Randwick when a second favorite placed second-last in a race, prompting a stewards inquiry and instigating an ugly spat involving some of the biggest names in the industry.
Gai Waterhouse and John Singleton, the trainer and owner, respectively, of mare More Joyous, were charged Monday following testimony at a Racing New South Wales inquiry that heard, among others, from former rugby league star Andrew Johns and brothel owner Eddie Hayson.
Waterhouse was charged with failing to report “any condition or occurrence that may affect the running of a horse in a race,” chief steward Ray Murrihy said. She was also charged with failing to keep a record of treatments administered to a horse. Waterhouse pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The charges against Waterhouse related to a problem with More Joyous before the running of the All Aged Stakes on April 27. Even though the horse had some heat in her neck and was treated with an antibiotic, Waterhouse did not consider it was serious enough to tell stewards.
Singleton, who fired Waterhouse during a post-race television interview, pleaded guilty to a charge of conduct prejudicial to racing’s image and was fined $15,000. He was upset that he had planned to place a large wager on his horse – reportedly up to $100,000 – but didn’t know of its ailment.
“This is my first and hopefully my last stewards’ inquiry,” Singleton said. “I don’t think anything I’ve done has been negative to racing (prior) to this inquiry.
“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as Gai and I were concerned, with the unintentional consequence of this inquiry.”
Johns, a former Australian rugby league international and one of the best halfbacks to play the sport, told the inquiry could not recall precisely what he told brothel owner Hayson about More Joyous after drinking beer at a football match.
Johns told the inquiry he was certain bookmaker Tom Waterhouse, son of Gai Waterhouse, did not tell him More Joyous was “off,” but he couldn’t remember exactly what he told Hayson at the match.
The inquiry was set up after Singleton claimed Gai Waterhouse had revealed to her bookmaker son that the horse had problems and Tom Waterhouse had allegedly told Johns.
Tom Waterhouse was cleared later Monday of any wrongdoing.
“There’s no evidence you received or passed on this information but you should be mindful of your public perception within the racing industry,” Murrihy told Tom Waterhouse.
He urged Waterhouse to “isolate” his gambling business from his mother’s activities as a leading trainer.
“You must not, in your advertising and your commentary, get too close to the bone,” he said.
The Waterhouse name is controversial in Australian horse racing circles.
Racing New South Wales allowed Gai Waterhouse, the daughter of legendary trainer Tommy Smith, to be awarded a trainer’s license in 1992 after nearly three years of battles with the Australian Jockey Club.
The jockey club had denied her a license because of her marriage to Robbie Waterhouse, who was at the time banned from race tracks for his part in the Fine Cotton affair.
On Aug. 18, 1984, a horse disguised as Fine Cotton won a race at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm track. Fine Cotton was an average performer and a syndicate substituted him with a stronger horse called Bold Personality, which won by a nose after a huge betting plunge.
The schemers painted Bold Personality to make it resemble Fine Cotton, but the scam was eventually uncovered because of the large number of bets placed on Fine Cotton to win.
The involvement of several high-profile Sydney bookmakers, including Robbie Waterhouse, who were found to have prior knowledge of the substitution, made the event into a national scandal.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
