Headlines

By Adrian Dunn

VICTORIA'S first arsenic irregularity has become entwined in legal argument.

Racing Victoria stewards' probe into the irregularity, detected from a feature-race winner at Moonee Valley on Manikato Stakes night, September 30, has stalled on several fronts.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club laboratory, which identified the irregularity, is the only racing laboratory in the world to test for arsenic.

With no other racing laboratory able to test the "B" sample, RVL presented several options to legal representatives of the trainer of the horse involved, but they have been rejected on the grounds that they are outside the rules.

Integrity services manager Dayle Brown said RVL was continuing its search to find another suitable laboratory to test the reserve sample

"Once all our investigative avenues are exhausted, we will then decide whether we're going to proceed on the evidence or not," he said.

The Rules Of Racing state samples are to be analysed only by an official racing laboratory.

And it further states that on detection of a prohibited substance, the laboratory shall nominate another official racing laboratory and refer to it the reserve portion of the same sample.

Brown said in some cases stewards could proceed with an inquiry with confirmation from just one laboratory.

"I'm not saying that's the situation here," he said. "Hopefully we will be in a position in the next 14 days to finalise our avenue."