By: Chris Roots

Warwick Farm trainer Matthew Smith was in shock at being questioned by stewards after Racing NSW investigator Nathan Hayward found syringes with the sedative Acepromazine – “ace” – in a gear bag in his truck.

Smith admitted the bag and syringes were his, in the unlocked truck at Randwick, and said he carried them routinely as part of his travels.

“I travel with a lot of horses around the state and we have them there just in case one of them plays up, so we can calm them down,” Smith told stewards. “I wouldn’t do anything like that if I thought I was doing anything wrong.”

Hayward found the bag in Smith’s truck at Randwick at around 2.15pm, after La Courbette had run in the first race of the day and stewards immediately opened an inquiry.