Trainers Lee and Shannon Hope will argue two laboratories were not accredited to test for cobalt at the time horses from their stable returned positive results.
ChemCentre and the Hong Kong Jockey Club labs may have been listed as official racing laboratories under the rules of racing but were not accredited to test for cobalt, their legal counsel has told a tribunal.
“The facility may well be accredited for testing for certain things but if it’s not accredited to test for cobalt at the relevant time, it’s not an official laboratory for the testing of cobalt,” Tim Purdey told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
However Racing Victoria counsel Albert Dinelli said there were no issues that ChemCentre and HKJC were official racing laboratories and the only issue was in relation to the methods applied.
Shannon Hope received a five-year disqualification and his father Lee was outed for three years when they were found guilty of intentionally administering cobalt to affect the performance of three of their racehorses.
The Hopes’ appeal, which had been due to start on Monday, will now run alongside that for trainers Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien from August 1.
Kavanagh and O’Brien will also argue the issue of lab accreditation in their appeal, which may be dealt with before the Hopes’ case.
