High-profile NT Trainer Dick Leech banned for 12 months
Highly-successful Northern Territory trainer Dick Leech has received a 12-month suspension.
Thoroughbred Racing NT stewards imposed the ban on Monday following an incident with Leech’s Envenomate during the February 3 meeting at Darwin.
Following a routine examination after arriving at Fannie Bay, stewards noticed Envenomate had a swollen haematoma on the near side jugular vein.
After a veterinarian’s inspection, it was determined that an alleged injection had been administered within the previous 24 hours.
Stewards withdrew the six-year-old gelding before collecting blood and urine samples.
An inquiry was opened, and evidence and statements were recorded.
Blood and urine samples were analysed by the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory, and no prohibited substances were detected.
The inquiry continued on March 7 and 15, and after considering further evidence from various parties, Leech was found guilty of injecting the gelding without the permission of stewards.
The high-profile trainer was disqualified for 12 months.
He applied for a stay with the NT Racing Appeals Tribunal, but that was refused on Wednesday.
It is believed that Leech will appeal the suspension after Easter.
Stewards fined Leech $6000 last October after Century Fox, who won last April’s NT Guineas (1600m) in Alice Springs, returned an abnormal blood sample during the Darwin Cup Carnival.
Century Fox, a narrow second in the Darwin Guineas (1600m) on July 8, was tested before and after the three-year-old feature.
The presence of nicotine and its metabolite cotinine was detected before the race, while the post-race blood sample detected the presence of cotinine.
Leech, who breached the same rule in 2008 and 2019, was stripped of second place in the Darwin Guineas as Century Fox was disqualified.
After racing horses last Sunday on Day 1 of the Alice Springs Cup Carnival, including Envenomate, those from the Leech yard are missing on Saturday.
Whether Write Your Name, who won the 2023 Alice Springs and Darwin Cups, and last year’s Palmerston Sprint winner Early Crow, who saluted in the Red Centre last weekend, will start in the Alice Springs Cup (2000m) and Pioneer Sprint (1200m) in early April is questionable.
They would have to be picked up by a rival trainer, along with stablemates capable of making an impact during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival, such as Century Fox, Kerioth and Madam Mischief.
With stables in Alice Springs and Darwin, Leech has been training in the NT for years and has won a plethora of big races.
In 2008, Club Liquid won the Darwin Cup for Leech by 13 lengths.
He had never won a NT trainers’ premiership before taking out the Alice Springs and Provincial title last season.
In a rare achievement, Leech won the Horse of the Year and the Middle Distance/Stayer of the Year for the 2022/23 season in Darwin and Alice Springs with Write Your Name.
Early Crow was Sprinter of the Year and Century Fox was Three-Year-Old of the Year at both venues.
Leech was the leading trainer during last year’s Alice Springs Cup Carnival with 10 wins over the five days, which included five wins on NT Guineas Day.