Andy Lord An Innocent Victim Of Speculation Over Inquiry

Just twenty four hours after the announcement of a inquiry in to the Cawbourne Bolt positive swab, a source close to the kennel concerned has reported that Andy Lord was not the registered trainer at the time and had no involvement on any level in Cawbourne Bolt's preparation to race at on 7th November 2009.

Despite all form guides, results and indeed all the greyhound race form profiles, still to this day showing Andy Lord as the trainer of Cawbourne Bolt, the insider has stated to Australian Racing Greyhound that “all paperwork was properly submitted to GRNSW and Lord had no involvement whatsoever on any level and was definitely not the trainer of the dog at the time”.

The inside source has also suggested that while GRNSW have not named the focus of the inquiry, Lord will not be required to attend or present evidence, a position that would be consistent with GRNSW acknowledging Lord was not the registered trainer of the greyhound and all paperwork had been submitted and processed successfully.

However, if our sources information is to be confirmed at inquiry, it would seem the registered trainer at the time of the positive swab will also be trying to establish his innocence of any wrong doing.

In circumstances closely resembling those of Gai Waterhouse's 2005 positive swab to , it will be alleged that Cawbourne Bolt may have tested positive to a widely used recreational drug, but rather than it being the result of a deliberate administration, it will be alleged that the positive is the result of an accidental contamination from a kennel hand.

Adding weight to the story, the kennel hand, who is no longer in the employment of the trainer concerned, is alleged to have appeared in court on matters related to the same drug found in Cawbourne Bolt.

In the 2005 case involving Waterhouse, she pleaded guilty to the charge of not presenting her horse drug free, but her defence that the positive swab was the result of contamination, was largely accepted by stewards and Waterhouse was only fined $15,000 and did not receive any disqualification or suspension.

More recently the Greyhound and Harness Racing Appeals Tribunal accepted the testimony of Dave Righetti that a positive swab in his greyhound to , was the result of contamination from an owner with a recreational drug habit. However in Righetti's case, he successfully argued the contamination occurred in the post race period.

If, as our insider reported to us, that the drug that Cawbourne Bolt swabbed positive to is an , then GRNSW will have little choice in light of the Righetti case, but to accept that accidental contamination causing in greyhounds to amphetamines is possible; and given the likely evidence that will be presented, it will be alleged that kennel hand is the most likely source of that contamination.

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