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Article re Nigel Mcgrath makes interesting reading. 

Ten year ban mentioned

This might be a line in the sand to clean up all racing in general. 

Certainly a deterrent not worth taking any chances with the rules 

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Not a good look on the face of it. Given his previous he must surely get a time out sentence.

 

A high profile harness racing trainer has admitted three racing charges following a dramatic raid of his property, but claims he is innocent of an allegation that could see him banned for a decade.

Canterbury-based Nigel McGrath has pleaded guilty to attempting to administer a prohibited substance on a raceday, refusing to supply information to a racecourse inspector and obstructing a racecourse inspector during an investigation.

The dispute of facts and crux of the case surrounds the substance of what was or was about to be administered to the horse when the raid was undertaken on March 13 this year.

 

McGrath has admitted breaking racing's "one clear day" rule - a charge of orally administering a horse with a legal substance (Air Support, a herbal product intended to aid a horse's respiratory function) within 24 hours of a race. But he has denied a more serious allegation of "tubing" a horse to administer sodium bicarbonate (regarded as a performance enhancing substance), laid by the Racing Integrity Unit (RIU).

 

Tubing is a practice where a tube is inserted through a horse's nose into its oesophagus to administer a liquid substance.

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The RIU's case centres on a confronting video of the raid, taken by its investigators, that was played at a hearing at Addington raceway.
Racing Integrity Unit investigators staked out Nigel McGrath's property.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF
Racing Integrity Unit investigators staked out Nigel McGrath's property.

Defence counsel Pip Hall, QC, argued for a monetary fine for the three charges McGrath has admitted to, while the RIU has sought a 10-year disqualification.

McGrath's fate will be decided by a Judicial Control Authority (JCA) committee of Jane Lovell-Smith (chair) and Tangi Utikere in the coming weeks.

"I ask for a further chance to prove I'm not a cheat as I've been portrayed," McGrath said when giving evidence.

The hearing was told that RIU investigators, acting on an anonymous tip-off that McGrath was tubing horses with sodium bicarbonate shortly before taking them to the races, staked out a shed away from the main stabling area at his property near Rolleston.

Three RIU investigators then confronted a startled McGrath and an associate Robert Burrows with a horse McGrath confirmed to be Steel The Show, who was due to race at Addington just three hours later.

Nigel McGrath is a highly successful harness racing trainer.
STUFF
Nigel McGrath is a highly successful harness racing trainer.

The investigators took possession of a backpack that contained tubing gear, a bag McGrath described as private as he repeatedly asked for it to be returned before snatching it back.

No sodium bicarbonate was found, but RIU counsel Brian Dickey claimed investigators had caught McGrath "red-handed".

No Air Support was found either, but McGrath claims he found the empty bottle of Air Support and the equipment used to administer it after investigators left his property.

Dickey said it was "bordering on a fairytale" to suggest the items were present during the raid but not found by or drawn to the attention of the RIU investigators.

McGrath said he didn't do that because he was in shock.

RIU investigators said McGrath's demeanour was "aggressive and obstructive". He refused to answer questions.

Nigel McGrath told the hearing he was extremely remorseful but not strongly denied the 'tubing' allegation.
IAIN MCGREGOR/STUFF
Nigel McGrath told the hearing he was extremely remorseful but not strongly denied the 'tubing' allegation.

He was told not to make it worse during the raid. He appeared to answer, "it can't get any worse".

McGrath agreed he was obstructive but denied he was abusive or aggressive.

At the hearing, McGrath claimed he couldn't handle the raid that came on the back of the worst two years of his life following Operation Inca, a National Organised Crime Group investigation that was centred around allegations of race-fixing. He said he was overwhelmed and in shock.

"It was like the world was caving in," McGrath told the hearing.

Dickey put it to McGrath that the shock was because he had been caught as he was about to tube the horse, but McGrath said being caught breaking the one-clear-day rule was bad enough.

He pointed out he invited investigators to "come back later" and initiated contact with the RIU the following day.

He claimed he snatched the bag from the investigators because he didn't want the tubing gear tested; it would have shown traces of substances used lawfully in the weeks prior.

McGrath says he made a stupid and spontaneous error of judgement to administer Air Support orally and did not plan to tube the horse.

He claims he instructed Burrows to fetch the Air Support, and Burrows fetched the backpack because the Air Support was in it.

When Burrows was interviewed during the raid, he told investigators he and McGrath were giving the horse "Air Supply".

Hall said the RIU's claims the horse was about to be tubed were nothing more than "guesswork and speculation".

Andrew Grierson, the veterinary advisor to the RIU, gave evidence that there was no way to know for sure what substance had been or was about to be administered without a sample.

Hall claimed the prosecution had lost its sense of perspective when submitting for a 10-year disqualification.

When giving evidence, McGrath said he was extremely remorseful. He strongly denied a claim from Dickey that he believed harness racing's rules didn't apply to him, having appeared before another JCA hearing two months earlier.

McGrath was arrested on September 4, 2018 as part of the Operation Inca police raids, but his only charge was dropped in August 2019.

The RIU subsequently laid a racing charge which saw him handed a six-month driving ban and ordered to pay costs of $11,500.

McGrath has been barred from entering any racecourse since the March raid.

He has also voluntarily handed in his trainer's licence and removed all racing horses from his property to show he was taking responsibility.

But he intends to continue in the industry that he left school to join when he was just 15.

Hall said it beggared belief McGrath and Burrows colluded to come up with a story of administering Air Support just in case they got caught.

If Steel The Show had been impounded and swabbed by the RIU, the matter would have had a much simpler conclusion but the RIU did not proceed.

McGrath said he was willing for the horse to be tested but Dickey argued that was a remarkable submission given he ordered the investigators off his property.

McGrath claimed applying Air Support was not motivated by money, adding he would have only earned around $400 if Steel The Show had won that night and said the product helped boost recovery and was not performance-enhancing.

Steal The Show and another McGrath trained horse Cloud Nine were scratched from their races on the night of the raid.

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35 minutes ago, TurnyTom said:

I would suggest another failure by Plod to collect evidence. 

Interesting 

Jumped the gun should have waited for the treatment to start.  Must have been a cold morning skulking around in the bushes

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2 hours ago, kilcoyne said:

Jumped the gun should have waited for the treatment to start.  Must have been a cold morning skulking around in the bushes

Seriously Kilcoyne!!  Good to see your mate Turny Tom has now been corrected.  Do you want a spatula to wipe the egg of your face yet again?  Did you and your mate Turny Tom attend the same school for the mentally gifted.  This was clearly an RIU matter and nothing to do with plod. Can you two nimrods think before you speak in future.  Thank you.

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1 hour ago, TurnyTom said:

Read the article for goodness sake has pleaded guilty to one and not guilty to the other, the more serious charge which lacks evidence, a Plod error and laid for reasons unknown to us

You really should  read the article again Tom and practise what you preach He pleaded guilty to 3 charges. Not 1 as you stated above. 

 

Greg

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34 minutes ago, TurnyTom said:

I was referring to the administering of the items they are the issues

You may not be aware this is a top end issue with other issues pending, for other folk

The outcome is important as is the process that was, or was not followed 

Im sure your second and third part is correct but that's not what you posted originally. NM is a walking disaster at present  and has obviously accumulated a few enemies along the way. Sad, but no integrity equals loss of confidence for the whole industry.

 

Greg

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57 minutes ago, TDO said:

Seriously Kilcoyne!!  Good to see your mate Turny Tom has now been corrected.  Do you want a spatula to wipe the egg of your face yet again?  Did you and your mate Turny Tom attend the same school for the mentally gifted.  This was clearly an RIU matter and nothing to do with plod. Can you two nimrods think before you speak in future.  Thank you.

Can you go back to school and learn to read.  I never mentioned "Plod" as you refer to them.  If you have got nothing better to do that show your ignorance might I suggest that you stick your spatula somewhere else.  Wake up and smell the roses sonny

 

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1 hour ago, JJ Flash said:

Im sure your second and third part is correct but that's not what you posted originally. NM is a walking disaster at present  and has obviously accumulated a few enemies along the way. Sad, but no integrity equals loss of confidence for the whole industry.

 

Greg

We agree to disagree and to suggest NM has no integrity is unacceptable but will register the comment as your view. 

Given you have announced yourself I will not provide any further input, but I suggest you wind your comments back and follow the case as a hell of a lot more is at stake than integrity

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5 hours ago, TurnyTom said:

Read the article for goodness sake has pleaded guilty to one and not guilty to the other, the more serious charge which lacks evidence, a Plod error and laid for reasons unknown to us

You tell him to read the article, yet you're promoting an error yourself.....

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Haven't bet on harness for years, sorry I mean thieves on wheels. Last time I did I'm sure McGrath was in trouble for something, but it was years ago. You guys are right about the RIU, cock up after cock up. There's been a big cock up case in the dogs going on 3 years, both cases I see smugness because they know they will get away with it.

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13 hours ago, TurnyTom said:

to suggest NM has no integrity is unacceptable

You have comprehension issues. I never said that NM has no integrity , what i was saying was that that without Integrity their will be a loss of confidence in the whole industry, people will not bet on races and thus investment and stakes head south.

If you follow my posts , specifically INCA , i always said all were innocent until proven guilty. This is the same path i take with NM on the charge he is pleading not guilty to. I hope this clarifies the matter for you from my perspective. Others may view it differently and even talking penalties

 

Greg

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36 minutes ago, TurnyTom said:

Not interested in other posts, there was a clear linkage in your comment

No linkage but  it suits your case.

I note you have not replied to others  who are suggesting a long lay off for NM. Consistency for you is not a strong point obviously 

 

Greg

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We are all entitled to our views it is just with my legal experience I view the outcome on the facts tabled very differently and I am sure the legal system will prevail. 

Stress I am not involved but a qualified bystander addressing the tabled evidence

A most interesting set of facts presented but IMHO one set fails 

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2 minutes ago, TurnyTom said:

A most interesting set of facts presented but IMHO one set fails 

For now its up to JCA to make the ultimate decision as to whether prosecution case was sound and evidence presented enough to establish guilt.

I would add that the more these types of cases appear in publications the more tarnished racing becomes. And that only leads to less participation.

 

Greg

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Agree, Greg, the negative press does little for racing and that is sad. 

But, one party is hell bent on taking failed actions and that is what I do not get. 

A good lawyer never asks a question he don't know the answer to and in this matter that maxim is failing badly in that one party cannot deliver. And you have to ask why put the industry in that position

Sadly, the general public looks and says oh that's racing, they cheat 

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