A JURY has heard telephone intercepts of a Tamworth horse trainer claiming to have a three-hour drench before he allegedly used it on the winner of the 2013 Tamworth Cup.
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Cody Glenn Morgan and Robert James Clement are standing trial in the Tamworth District Court, accused of acting in a joint criminal enterprise by engaging in conduct that corrupted the outcome of the Tamworth Cup on April 28, 2013.
A panel of 12 men and women was sworn in yesterday morning to hear the case where the crown alleges the pair administered a solution to Prussian Secret prior to the race to obtain a financial advantage.
The horse, which was trained by Morgan, eventually won the race convincingly and paid up to $12.10 to win, according to betting agencies, the court was told yesterday.
The Crown’s case relies on telephone intercepts “to establish that there was an agreement” between the pair, crown prosecutor Jane Krippner said in her opening address.
Several phone intercepts were played to the court, including one tapped call where Morgan left a message on Clement’s voicemail.
“I got a three-hour drench ... so that’s about twenty past one. I’ll talk to ya,” Morgan is heard saying on the night of April 27.
In a separate phone tap, the jury heard the pair discussing plans to have Clement come to the Attunga property on the day of the Tamworth Cup race.
“If you could come out home,” Morgan is heard to say to Clement, telling him to come at a quarter past one, three hours before the race.
A separate phone tap was played where the pair discuss a “heavy track” and the need to find a bucket to measure out a litre for the alleged drench.
“I’ll be right to do the job for you,” Clement is heard on the intercept.
It’s the Crown’s case that “Morgan thanked Clement many times” after the race, and that the pair had both agreed “it’s too risky” to talk about it to others.
Morgan is also accused of using corrupt conduct information to bet on an event, namely that he knew the horse had been treated, before he placed a bet on the 2013 race.
He is also accused of facilitating conduct to enter into an agreement to treat Prussian Secret before the Gunnedah Cup on May 12, 2013, to corrupt the betting outcome of the race, with the intention of obtaining a financial advantage.
Prussian Secret was intercepted by police from Strike Force Trentbridge on route to the Gunnedah race meeting about 2pm and taken back to Attunga where police raided the property and the horse underwent hourly blood tests, with the crown alleging the results of those showed evidence of “performance enhancing”.
Ms Krippner said the drench counteracts the build up of lactic acid, enabling the horse to run at speed for longer.
The crown said there was no evidence Clement, who had a cancelled harness racing training licence in 2013, had placed a bet on the Tamworth Cup, but they claim he was “motivated by the continual referral of horses to his wife Jane Clement” to train, because of injuries Morgan had.
The trial before Acting Judge Colin Charteris continues.
