Press Release:
Harness racing trainer Kevin Townley has been fined $11,000 for producing a horse to race when not free of a prohibited substance (Ketoprofen). The horse in question was Geen’s Girl who won at Addington on the 2nd March 2018 but has since been disqualified.
Mr Townley cannot categorically confirm how the Ketoprofen came to be in the horse’s system on race day but believes that a bottle of E-SE may have been contaminated after giving a horse both Ketoprofen and E-SE that was drawn up into the same syringe. Mr Townley believes that after drawing up the Ketoprofen and then drawing up the E-SE some of the Ketoprofen has been forced into the bottle of E-SE.
This is the second breach of the same rule this season for Townley who was also fined $7000 back in March this year when another of his horses Well Defined tested positive to Ketoprofen after winning at Geraldine.
The Committee was satisfied that a fine of $11,000 is an appropriate penalty in this case. They believed that such a penalty will satisfy the principal requirements of sentencing – that is to say, to punish the offender, to deter the offender and others in the industry and the need to maintain integrity and public confidence in harness racing.
