Trainer Peter Moody has blamed a hoof treatment for illegal levels of cobalt found in one of his horses.
Moody pleaded not guilty to three charges when he appeared at a short hearing in Melbourne on Monday night.
The trainer’s counsel told the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board Lidari had been given Availa, an oral treatment to help horses with shelly or cracked hooves, in the lead-up to his second in the 2014 Turnbull Stakes.
Lidari returned levels of 380mcg per litre of urine and 410mcg, well above the legal threshold of 200mcg.
Moody’s lawyer Matthew Stirling, said tests on the bag of Availa used on Lidari showed higher cobalt levels than stated by the manufacturer.
Instead of 0.18 per cent, the tests showed the product showed a cobalt level of 0.236 per cent.
The hearing gets into full swing on Wednesday.
Trainers Lee and Shannon Hope have appealed their respective three and five-year disqualifications for cobalt use while Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien will learn their penalties on Friday.
Vet Tom Brennan has admitted adding Vitamin Complex to IV drips given to horses in the Kavanagh and O’Brien stables but has denied knowing it contained high levels of cobalt.
