Victorian trainer faces lengthy ban
A Victorian trainer faces a mandatory two-year ban after admitting he gave a peptide to a horse in the middle of last year.
During an inspection of Paul Jones’ Stawell stable in February, Racing Victoria’s Compliance Assurance Team found four vials of the unregistered TB-1000.
The product contains a synthetic peptide which is an active fragment of Thymosin Beta 4, the same peptide at the centre of the scandal involving the Essendon AFL team.
Jones admitted to investigators that he had administered or caused to be administered TB-1000 to registered racehorse General Sateen in or about mid-2015.
The horse did not start in a race after receiving the product and was subsequently retired.
Synthetic peptides are reported to increase muscle size, strength and stamina, enhance tissue repair and reduce recovery time.
A date for Jones’ hearing has yet to be set.