Aquanita Eight All Found Guilty

[Wandering Eyes]

All eight persons charged in the Aquanita sodium bicarbonate doping scandal have been found guilty by Victoria’s Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board.

The scandal, which came to light in January, saw five trainers and eight stable personnel all under the umbrella of the former Aquanita Racing syndicate charged with over 250 total counts of bicarb doping over a period of seven years. The trainers are Robert Smerdon-with 115 charges alone–Stuart Webb, Tony Vasil, Liam Birchley and Trent Pennuto. Float driver Greg Nelligan appears to have been one of the masterminds of the scheme, organizing the raceday “top ups,” and his wife Denise Nelligan was ultimately the whistle blower to stewards after Nelligan was caught putting a syringe into the mouth of one of Smerdon’s horses at the races last October. Text messages retrieved from Nelligan’s phone between he and some of the named trainers referring to “top ups” also served as evidence.

“The Aquanita case represents one of the darkest and longest chapters in the history of Australian turf,” RAD board chair Judge John Bowman said. “There is a litany of brazen attempts to cheat and to obtain an unfair advantage over many years by a well-organised team. This was a long-running, systematic conspiracy to try and obtain an unfair advantage in well over a hundred races over seven years.”

The RAD Board will hear submissions on Thursday before revealing penalties.

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