Queensland stewards are taking a harder line on arsenic cases after fining two trainers whose horses returned levels above the threshold.
In recent years there have been a spate of arsenic cases in Queensland which have often resulted in no penalties.
However, trainers John Wallace and Rob Davidson were each fined $2000 after separate stewards’ inquiries.
Stewards opened an inquiry after arsenic was detected in a urine sample taken from the Wallace trained Ivy’s Dream who won at the Gold Coast on February 16.
Wallace pleaded not guilty to a charge of bringing a horse to race when a prohibited substance was detected.
He told the inquiry Ivy’s Dream had ingested shavings, containing arsenic leading up to the race which had resulted in the substance being present in the urine sample.
Davidson’s horse Flight De Vegas was found to have traces of arsenic above the threshold after it ran fifth at the Sunshine Coast on February 8.
