Racing NSW stewards have handed down their findings in the Godolphin strangles case against former high-ranking employees, trainer John O'Shea and managing director Henry Plumptre.
The inquiry centred around why Plumptre and O'Shea failed to report to stewards that Godolphin vets had been advised by Vetnostics Pathology that Polemic had tested positive to strangles in April last year.
Racing NSW stewards issued a press release on Thursday advising they had sustained the changes against O'Shea while Plumptre was fined after pleading guilty during the hearing earlier this month.
They found O'Shea guilty of two charges.
Charge 1 - AR175(l) of being a party to Mr Plumptre committing a breach of AR64K(2) for not reporting as soon as possible by the quickest means of communication available to Racing NSW, the Principal Racing Authority in NSW, that the racehorse Polemic was confirmed as being infected with the notifiable disease or condition strangles as required by AR64K(2) when he became aware that the racehorse Polemic was so infected, on 4 August 2016.
Charge 2 - AR175(g) of providing false and/or misleading evidence at a Stewards interview on 16 June 2017 and Stewards inquiry on 26 June 2017 relative to his knowledge that Polemic was confirmed as having tested positive to the notifiable disease or condition strangles.
Stewards are yet to issue a penalty with a date to be fixed for penalty submissions to be heard.
Plumptre was issued with a $20,000 fine, which was reduced to $15,000 for failing to inform stewards that Polemic had tested positive to strangles.
"The Stewards have determined that the appropriate penalty for the offence is a $20,000 fine," the stewards report said.
"Having regard to Mr Plumptre's co-operation with the Stewards and his guilty plea entered at the first available opportunity, the Stewards determine that Mr Plumptre is entitled to a 25% reduction of that penalty and accordingly issue Mr Plumptre with a fine of $15,000."
