A JUDGE has told a Tamworth horse trainer he won’t be jailed for race-fixing, while another horse broker has admitted to corrupt conduct in harness racing.
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Cody Glenn Morgan and Robert James Clement fronted a sentencing hearing in Sydney’s District Court on Thursday after being found guilty of engaging in conduct to corrupt the betting outcome of the 2013 Tamworth Cup.
A jury found the pair had drenched thoroughbred Prussian Secret in the hours before the race to gain a betting windfall.
Acting Judge Colin Charteris was told Clement had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally possessing a firearm.
Before the judge, he then pleaded guilty to facilitating corrupt conduct in relation to a Tamworth harness race and asked the court to take into account two similar matters.
Morgan is awaiting sentencing for two further charges of using corrupt conduct knowledge to place a $100 each bet on the 2013 Tamworth race, as well as entering into an agreement to drench Prussian Secret before the 2013 Gunnedah Cup.
Acting Judge Charteris told Morgan he was a "person of considerable potential" and he would not send him to prison.
But the pair will have to wait to learn their sentence after the hearing was adjourned to September 13. The court developments come just a day after stewards cleared Morgan to continue training.
On Wednesday, a panel of stewards disqualified Morgan for 15 months for drenching Prussian Secret on the day of the 2013 Tamworth Cup, and the Gunnedah Cup, two weeks later.
Morgan pleaded guilty to two charges under Racing NSW rules of causing a stomach tube to be administered to the horse within 24 hours of racing, both of which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 12 months disqualification.
But a panel of stewards, including Chairman of Stewards, Marc Van Gestel, Ray Livingstone and Chris Polglase, found that Morgan had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, and had assisted the inquiry, so they reduced the penalty to nine months on each charge.
They ruled the penalties would be served partially concurrent.
Stewards also said that Morgan, who gave evidence at the inquiry, stood down from training in July, 2013, to October, 2014, when he was granted a trainers licence, meaning he was free to continue training.
Clement was found guilty under racing rules of administering a stomach tube to Prussian Secret within 24 hours of the Tamworth Cup in 2013. Stewards found Clement had no special circumstances and immediately disqualified him for 12 months.
Morgan’s brother, Luke, who was a licensed stablehand during the offending and is a current licensed trainer, pleaded guilty under racing rules to being a party to the administration of a stomach tube on Prussian Secret before the Gunnedah Cup on May 12, 2013.
Stewards said he assisted the inquiry and pleaded guilty at an early opportunity, and disqualified him from training for nine months immediately.
Similarly, registered owner Maxwell Rose also admitted to tubing the horse and was disqualified for nine months.