By: Andrew Eddy
Veteran Mornington trainer Clive Balfour faces another Racing Victoria investigation into possible race-day treatment just seven months after returning from a ban for the same offence.
RV stewards at Moe on Thursday reported that members of the Compliance Assurance Team had been at the 74-year-old’s stables that morning, where they discovered traces of an unknown substance around the mouth of mare Alsimon, who was engaged to run that afternoon.
“Samples were collected from the syringe used and from around the mare’s mouth and an inquiry was adjourned to a date to be fixed,” the report read.
Stewards then scratched Alsimon from the sixth event at Moe, the Benchmark 64.
Last spring, Balfour had pleaded guilty to three charges under AR 178AB following an attempted race-day treatment of three horses – Rexmont, Tarpeia and Alsimon – prior to the trio running at the Moe meeting on September 25, 2017.
He was initially disqualified for six months but that sentence was amended to a suspension upon appeal.
