Racing Victoria not tolerating animal cruelty

1 year ago

Racing Victoria (RV) Chairman Brian Kruger has made it vehemently clear that animal cruelty is not at all condoned in the racing industry.

Charges against Darren Weir have prompted RV to request to the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary (RAD) Board that the trainer be disqualified for four years after ‘jiggers’ were found at his Ballarat and Warrnambool stables last week.

Whether or not the claims will be substantiated remains to be seen but regardless of the outcome, Kruger was unwavering on RV’s stance relating to animal welfare.

“We’ve got three core values at Racing Victoria and I know that they are shared by many, if not most, of the participants in the sport,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

“They are around integrity, the safety of our participants and also animal welfare.

“There’s so many great stories out there about how our horses are treated, how they’re loved, and every time I’ve been to the stables, that’s all I see.

“I think the issue of horses being treated cruelly is really abhorrent for both those people outside the industry but also people inside the industry.

“It’s a major issue, that perception of cruelty. Animal cruelty is something personally I won’t tolerate, I know our Board won’t tolerate and our executives won’t tolerate, nor will the vast majority of people in our sport.

“That’s the message that we need to get out there to the broader public is that any cruelty to animals will not be tolerated.”

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Kruger also gave a robust push for RV’s integrity team and the in-depth work they continuously undertake in a bid to ensure the sport is clean and humane.

“I take some comfort from knowing the extent to which our integrity team go to and all of the steps they take,” Kruger added.

“They have enormous resources at hand. We spend north of $10 million on our integrity efforts each year. We have a team of 60-70 people working full-time on this.

“If it was prevalent in the industry, I’m confident that we would know about it.

“Can I absolutely iron-clad guarantee that it’s not happening somewhere else? No, I can’t at the moment.

“But I take a lot of confidence from the fact that our integrity team and the resources they have and the efforts they are going to to make sure this is not widespread.”

Jarrod McLean, who was charged alongside Weir, will fight his four-year ban while charges against stable employee Tyson Kermond will not be pursued.

Weir will appear in front of the RAD Board on Wednesday at 8:30am.