No issue over cobalt testing: RASL

No laboratory in the world had accreditation to test for cobalt in equine urine in 2014, an appeal by four Victorian trainers has heard.

But Racing Analytical Services Ltd lab director David Batty said there was no issue in his mind that the laboratories involved were not accredited to do the testing.

“There was at the relevant time no issue in my mind that the laboratories were accredited to conduct the analyses,” Batty said in a statement.

Accreditation is a central issue in trainers Mark Kavanagh, Danny O’Brien and father-and-son training partners Lee and Shannon Hope’s appeals against their cobalt disqualifications.

Batty said Perth-based ChemCentre and the Hong Kong Jockey Club lab were accredited racing laboratories and ChemCentre had an accredited method for testing for cobalt in urine.

WilliamHill.com.au

“There wasn’t a lab in the world that was accredited for equine urine,” Batty told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday.

Batty said there were discussions about testing for cobalt in 2014 when Racing Victoria brought in its cobalt threshold, and RASL was not able to do the testing itself at the time.

Kane Ashby, the former head of Racing Victoria’s compliance assurance team, has denied knowing the labs involved were not accredited to test for cobalt at the time.

Ashby has previously told VCAT he was absolutely astounded by the claim Batty told him ChemCentre and the HKJC lab did not have the accreditation to test for cobalt.

Batty said his recollection differed from Ashby’s.

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