The veterinary surgeon at the centre of the cobalt case against trainers Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien has pleaded guilty to all charges levelled against him, except one.
Kavanagh and O’Brien along with vet Tom Brennan faced the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board on Monday over elevated levels of cobalt in horses trained by the pair.
A partner in the Flemington Equine Clinic, Brennan has maintained a not guilty plea to a charge of being a party to the administration of cobalt to affect the performance of a horse.
Midway through the first day of the hearing, Brennan changed his plea on other charges to guilty, admitting he had added “Vitamin Complex” to an intravenous drip but denying he knew it contained cobalt.
The two trainers have pleaded not guilty to all charges after four O’Brien and one Kavanagh-trained horses returned cobalt levels above the 200mcg per litre in urine threshold.
Jeff Gleeson, QC, representing Racing Victoria, said there was a dismal similarity to the pattern of lies the three had taken in the course of stewards’ interviews after the cobalt positives first came to light at the start of the year.
He said they all feigned ignorance.
“Dr Brennan eventually saw the writing on the wall and made admissions,” Gleeson said.
“There was clear motivation to protect these trainers with whom he had a strong working relationship.”
Early in the hearing Gleeson said stewards believed the administration of the IV drips containing a mixture including “Vitamin Complex” caused the elevated readings in the five horses.
He said the injectable horse supplement Vam contained 1.96 milligrams of cobalt while the IV drips given to the horses, which included Vitamin Complex, contained 102.5 milligrams of cobalt.
He said Brennan now agreed with stewards the IV drips contained cobalt that caused urinary levels to exceed the threshold.
Gleeson asked what professional would take a bottle that had directions on the bottle to take orally, draw down on it and put it into a drip.
He also asked why Kavanagh and O’Brien should be believed, saying what they said was farcically and transparently false.
Brennan has been disqualified by NSW authorities for his actions in the case against trainer Sam Kavanagh who has also been banned.
Earlier in November, training partners Lee and Shannon Hope were disqualified for three and five years respectively after three horses in their care returned high cobalt levels.
They continue to train pending an appeal, while Peter Moody has a cobalt hearing set down for December 14.
The Kavanagh/O’Brien hearing will resume on Tuesday.
