Disqualified trainers Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh will seek an extended stay of proceedings at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The trainers were on Wednesday banned for four years and three years respectively by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board over cobalt-related offences.
They immediately appealed to VCAT and were granted a stay until 5.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday with a directions hearing to take place mid-afternoon.
Counsel for the trainers, Damian Sheales, has indicated he will be seeking to extend the stay to allow O’Brien and Kavanagh to continue training until their appeals can be heard.
O’Brien has said he is not satisfied with the way Racing Victoria has handled the cobalt investigation.
He was also disappointed his counsel was unable to cross examine Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey and Dion Villella, from RV’s Compliance and Assurance Team, during the seven-day hearing into the charges against them.
“At the end of the day they’re really only holding back the tide for when we get to VCAT and everything is examined properly in a real, adult court,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien and Kavanagh, along with their former vet Tom Brennan, were found guilty in December of the administration of cobalt for the purpose of affecting the performance of a horse in a race.
Four O’Brien-trained horses and the Kavanagh-trained Magicool returned levels of cobalt above the 200 micrograms per litre of urine threshold in 2014.
Brennan has been disqualified for five years.
