A harness racing trainer has been caught injecting a suspected performance enhancing drug into two horses, hours before they were due to take to the track. Harness Racing NZ chief executive Gary Woodham said he had called a board meeting for Friday afternoon to decide whether to suspend or cancel Alford’s licence. The harness racing industry has had its reputation tarnished by a number of recent scandals. Stuff has since revealed the RIU was investigating allegations that promising harness racing trainer Mitchell Kerr over-syndicated horses and charged for non-existent insurance policies. Kerr handed in his training and driver’s licence to Harness Racing New Zealand in November, citing “mental health” as the reason for the break.

Source: Stuff February 26, 2021 01:52 UTC