A JURY has been told a Tamworth trainer was under the false impression his horse had been drenched by a friend, who never went through with the plan before a 2013 cup win.
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After eight days of evidence in Tamworth District Court, barristers for Cody Glenn Morgan and Robert James Clement delivered their closing addresses to the jury yesterday.
Morgan’s barrister, Peter Skinner, said his client was misguided when he was heard talking to Clement on a series of phone calls intercepted by police.
“Everything he said isn’t an admission at all ... it’s a misapprehension. The crown must prove that it happened,” he told the jury.
The pair are accused of drenching Prussian Secret just hours before the April 28 Tamworth Cup three years ago, to corrupt the betting outcome of the race.
The crown alleges the pair had an agreement, with the intention of obtaining a financial windfall.
Mr Skinner said Morgan was “a young man” who thought he had one up on the other trainers.
“That’s not a crime,” he told the jury.
The jury was told Clement didn’t drench the horse, and didn’t have the heart to let Morgan down.
In closing submissions, Clement’s barrister, Rod Clifford, said the case against his client was based on “rumours, integrity, Chinese whispers”.
“True, he’s a big-noter, he’s a larrikin,” he told the court.
The court heard Clement had suffered burns to his hands after his buggy crashed and burst into flames the night before.
“He couldn’t physically do the task,” he said.
“Clemo was going to do it ... he decided the night before he couldn’t ... he was burnt.”
Mr Clifford said the case against his client was circumstantial and was just rumours based on police listening to intercepted calls.
The jury was told Clement was “not a betting man” and therefore the crown’s allegation that the pair had engaged in a joint criminal enterprise was not true, Mr Clifford said.
“He doesn’t bet, there’s no financial gain,” Mr Clifford said.
Morgan is also accused of drenching the horse ahead of the Gunnedah Cup to gain a financial windfall, but Mr Skinner said his client was heard during a phone intercept telling a man the horse had slightly injured itself.
“He’s telling the guy to halve his bet,” he told the jury.
“He’s not saying anything about giving him a leg up.”
Mr Skinner said there was no evidence Morgan intended to bet on the Gunnedah Cup and he only put a $100 each-way bet on the Tamworth Cup.
“It isn’t the world’s biggest bet,” he said, adding Morgan didn’t put it on a win-only because he wasn’t confident.
The trial resumes on Tuesday.
