By James Purtill and James Oaten
Trainer Stuart Gower has been banned from racing for two years after his Darwin Cup-winning horse Saturday Sorcerer tested positive for a banned steroid.
He said he would appeal against the sentence.
A stewards inquiry formally stripped the South Australian trainer of the Cup after he pleaded guilty to doping charges.
Stewards said it was the first time the banned substance Andarine S4 had been detected in a racehorse in Australia.
Gower said he had never heard of the drug before being told his horse had returned a positive swab and that he had no motive for trying to use banned drugs on his horse.
“I’ve been racking my brains for the last two weeks trying to work out how it got into the system,” Gower told the inquiry.
The inquiry heard the banned substance could build up muscle mass in humans but there was no comprehensive study of how it affected horses.
Gower asked the inquiry whether the horse could have somehow licked the substance off the floor.
“That’s an unlikely scenario,” said vet Dr Craig Suann.
Disqualification would just about kill me: Gower
Gower pleaded guilty to three charges including presenting Saturday Sorcerer to race on July 26 and August 4 with a prohibited substance and not keeping the horse’s medical records for 12 months.
However, he was not found guilty of administering the banned substance to the horse.
Ahead of his sentencing he told the inquiry: “Being found guilty will not look good on my record. I have been a trainer for 23 years and it is unblemished.
“Disqualification would just about kill me.”
The stewards inquiry examined Gower’s bank records behind closed doors but later said they found no evidence of anything improper.
Gower told the inquiry he never bought the banned substance and estimated the cost of doping a racehorse with the substance, which has been used by body builders, as “astronomical”.
Two years a serious penalty: Chief steward
Chairman of NT Stewards David Hensler said Gower’s behaviour during the inquiry helped to reduce the length of his ban.
“Mr Gower was cooperative in the manner that he gave his evidence and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, so that certainly went to his favour and that was reflected when we looked at the matter of penalty,” he said.
Hensler said the two-year disqualification was towards the higher end of the penalties stewards could hand out under the rules of racing but a precedent had to be set.
“There’s really no penalty to reflect on for this substance, but it’s a substance that shouldn’t be in a horse at any stage, whether it be racing or in the stables,” he said.
“It certainly is a serious penalty. Mr Gower has lost his livelihood for two years, so that’s not a matter to be taken lightly by the stewards, but that’s what we believe is appropriate to send a message and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
