Tony Peter saga: NHA slaps on a new charge

Trainer Tony Peter will face a new National Horseracing Authority charge – of not presenting a horse for dope testing at Saturday’s Betway Summer Cup race meeting.

The horse, Flying Bull, was originally due to race in the ROA Stayers, a supporting feature race on the card, but suffered the same fate as 10 other Peter-trained runners in being summarily scratched from the meeting by stipendiary stewards.

The 11 horses were withdrawn following an “incident” at the Peter stables on the Turffontein grounds on Saturday morning.

Soon thereafter the NHA imposed an “interim suspension” on Peter, banning him from any racing participation until conclusion of an investigation that “emanated from a stable visit by NHA officials earlier today, which raised certain serious concerns”.

At 9.40pm on Sunday night, the NHA issued another statement, saying, “a preliminary investigation has been completed and consequently the interim suspension imposed on trainer Tony Peter has been lifted forthwith”.

A report in Sporting Post said the incident had involved the NHA’s chief investigator making a surprise visit to the Peter yard and demanding to search people and vehicles – presumably for illegal equine drugs.

Tony Peter’s parents, mother Marcelle and father Paul, a retired former national champion trainer, were allegedly involved in an altercation with the official, according to Sporting Post.

Withdrawal of horses

Tony Peter was not at the yard at the time, having gone to the nearby racecourse to prepare horses running in Race 1 on the day’s card – a race his filly Almond Sea won impressively.

Shortly before Race 3, the large crowd of racegoers on the festive day was rocked by the announcement that all other Peter-trained horses had been withdrawn from competition.

By Monday, the matter had entered the realm of legal wrangling and none of the parties involved was prepared to make further comment.

However, Paul Peter did volunteer a statement that his son had, on being informed of the scratchings, asked the NHA to immediately test all his runners. He said four Peter horses present then in the Turffontein saddling area had blood taken for analysis.

Paul Peter said his son was notified by digital media at 2.40pm that Flying Bull needed to be moved from the stables to the course proper for a blood test. Paul Peter said that, at that time, his son had been engaged in discussions with his legal team and had tried to contact someone at his yard to arrange for the testing but had been unsuccessful. He denied there had been any further contact about Flying Bull.

Specifically asked about the suspension U-turn, NHA racing control executive Arnold Hyde said, “due to the sensitivity of the matter”, the press releases would be all the information the body would present in public for the time being.

Within minutes, the NHA had released yet another statement: “Following the press release that was sent out on Sunday night, 26 November 2023, “URGENT UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF INTERIM SUSPENSION – TRAINER TONY PETER”, and the conclusion of the investigation, the following will be considered, inter alia, by an Inquiry Board.

Grooms

“Trainer Tony Peter was advised on 25 November 2023 to present selected runners for the taking of pre-race specimens. Flying Bull was not presented for the collection of specimens despite trainer Tony Peter being reminded of this requirement. An Inquiry Board will be convened in due course.”

It was confirmed by several sources that an assault charge had been laid at the Booysens SAPS station against an NHA official. When police arrived at Turffontein on Saturday to question the man, officers were told he had finished his shift at 12 noon and had departed.

Further fallout from the controversy was the grooms of Peter’s two carded runners in the main race, the R5-million Betway Summer Cup, losing out on the sponsor’s R20,000 bonus for each handler. The grooms had no part in the yard incident.

Some background: In September, three Peter horses were suspended from racing for a period following dope-test raids on Highveld training centres. One of the issues then was intra-articular treatment – injections into horses’ joints – in days leading up to competition.

Such jabs are common in training yards for horses not in imminent competition.

The prohibited substance Lidocaine had been detected in the blood of two of the horses, the NHA later confirmed.

The NHA also said veterinary treatments had not been properly recorded. Soon thereafter, the NHA introduced a new, tighter law covering joint injections.

A hearing on the matter was held in mid-October but no outcome has yet been announced.