An Oakford-based horse trainer with more than sixty years in the racing industry has been handed an immediate six-month disqualification for attaching metal spikes to a horse walker.
Racing WA stewards conducted an inquiry on 7 August after a concerning report of dangerous modifications made to a horse walker at the stable address of trainer Phil Duggan.
Last week Mr Duggan pleaded guilty to attaching a spiked board to prevent horses from stopping.
He also pleaded guilty to “failing to care for the gelding Trunkey Fetch by not seeking veterinary treatment after the horse was found to be suffering from illness on return to the stable after a race meeting on 23 July”.
Stewards found no evidence that a horse had been injured by the device.
They also said Mr Duggan had no prior offences in relation to horse welfare, and considered his “immediate acknowledgement of guilt and remorse” when handing down his penalty.
But Mr Duggan’s licence was previously suspended in December 2022 and he received fines after arsenic was found in a post-race urine sample of a horse he was training.
Stewards agreed the reported level of arsenic was likely to have arisen from the ingestion of Copper Chrome Arsenate-treated wooden poles at the property.
But a suspension was imposed because he had failed to remove the CCW-treated wooden poles after the same horse had presented with arsenic in its system one year before.
The news has shocked the equine community in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale, with many saying a lifetime ban, rather than a six-month disqualification, would have been a more deserving punishment for his offence.
