Trainer in doping sting
A SECOND assault on the Mackay Cup by last year's winner, Tamworth stayer Prussian Secret, is highly unlikely after his trainer Cody Morgan was arrested and charged over a doping scandal.
Morgan, 27 was arrested and charged after Prussian Secret, also a Tamworth Cup winner, was sensationally scratched by stewards from last Sunday's Gunnedah Cup.
Last winter Morgan floated Prussian Secret north where he finished third in the Rockhampton Cup before going on to win the Mackay Cup (1800m) on July 7.
At the time, Morgan a former top New South Wales apprentice jockey and champion rodeo rider said: "I'll be back for the Cups up here next winter with some other horses as well".
Acting on a tip-off, NSW police from the Racing Investigation Unit intercepted both Morgan and another man, 47, after they allegedly had stomach tubed Prussian Secret before Sunday's Gunnedah Cup.
It will be alleged similarly by police that Morgan and an accomplice also stomach tubed Prussian Secret before the Tamworth Cup win.
Stomach tubing or drenching or in fact any treatment to a horse within 24 hours of starting in a race is barred by authorities Australia wide.
Drenching involves a liquid substance from a bucket being poured into a plastic tube that after being placed trough the nostrils flows into the horse's stomach.
It is used unscrupulously to gain an advantage as in most cases drenching with TCO-2 (Total Carbon Dioxide - bi-carb) allows the horse to perform at its maximum for longer.
NSW Detective Superintend Ken Finch, while not naming the substance used in the Prussian Secret case, hinted by saying "it prevents the build-up of lactic acid and allows the blood to oxygenate in a much better way".
He said convictions carried maximum sentences of 10-year jail terms.
Morgan and two other men have been granted conditional bail to appear in court at Tamworth on May 27.
Racing Queensland's chief steward Wade Birch said from Brisbane his officials would increase their surprise visits to racing stables leading up to race meetings.
"We have already started increased vigilance with inspections to trainers' properties and stables. Any treatment - drenching and stomach tubing included - is outlawed within 24 horses of a horse racing."
FORMER Mackay jockey Dale Missen has been disqualified from racing for a year.
Stewards on Monday outed Missen for allegedly not allowing the horse Destars to run on its merits in a race at the Gold Coast on April 27.
They were critical of his riding at three intervals of the race and particularised these in detail.
In summation stewards alleged in report that in their opinion Missen's actions over the final 600 metres of the race were "deliberate and consciously designed not to allow Destars to run on its merits".
The stewards said they reviewed a number other races which illustrated the riding style of Dale Missen.
Missen defended his innocence pleading not guilty before the stewards announced their findings.
Chief steward Norm Torpey told Missen - "this is a serious matter that has the ability to impact negatively on the image of racing".
Missen had been based in south-east Queensland but was a regular at Mackay TAB meetings.