Trainer Peter Sinclair has been suspended for four months and fined $750 following a Racing NSW stewards’ inquiry into the handling and reporting of a preapprentice’s fall at Murwillumbah racecourse.
The inquiry centred on an incident involving preapprentice Charlotte Murrell, who was dislodged from a horse at Murwillumbah on August 12 and subsequently experienced neck pain.
Stewards took evidence from Murrell, Sinclair, stablehand Nicole Carkazis and veterinarian Dr Katrina Swift, while written evidence was provided by Racing NSW Participant Welfare manager Phillip O’Brien and Tweed River Jockey Club secretary Timothy Booth.
Sinclair pleaded guilty to four charges arising from the incident and the events that followed.
The first charge related to his failure to comply with Racing NSW’s Work Health & Safety Memorandum for Racehorse Trainers by properly reporting Murrell’s fall and resulting neck pain.
A second charge was issued after stewards found Sinclair instructed Murrell to tell medical staff at Murwillumbah District Hospital that her injury had occurred on August 14, rather than August 12 when she had actually fallen from the horse.
Sinclair was also charged after allowing Murrell to undertake trackwork duties for his stable on August 14 despite knowing she had continued to experience neck pain following the fall.
Stewards found she had been permitted to perform those duties without first obtaining the appropriate medical assessment or clearance, exposing her to an unnecessary risk to her health and welfare.
The fourth charge related to Sinclair’s dealings with Racing NSW stewards. During conversations on August 14 and August 17, he allowed stewards to continue under the impression Murrell had fallen at his registered stable premises on August 14 without advising them that the incident had actually occurred at Murwillumbah racecourse two days earlier.
Sinclair pleaded guilty and was found guilty of all four charges.
In determining penalty, stewards considered his guilty pleas, forthright evidence and contrition, disciplinary history, time in the racing industry, personal and professional circumstances and the need for both specific and general deterrence.
The first charge initially attracted a $1000 fine, reduced to $750 for Sinclair’s guilty plea. Each of the remaining three charges carried an initial three-month suspension, reduced to two months after consideration of his guilty plea and mitigating factors.
Stewards also acknowledged Sinclair had ultimately brought the offending to their attention.
After applying the totality principle, stewards imposed an overall penalty of a $750 fine and a four-month suspension of Sinclair’s trainer’s licence.
The suspension begins on September 16 and expires on January 16, 2027, when Sinclair will be permitted to resume training duties.
Sinclair was advised of his appeal rights.
