FRENCH trainer Mikel Delzangles was fined $2,000 for breaching race day treatment rules with his Melbourne Cup contender Dunaden, reports Racing Network. Delzangles pleaded guilty to administering a substance – an anti ulcer paste – to Dunaden on the morning of the Cup.
“I feel bad,” Delzangles said. “It’s not good for racing. We made a mistake and we will not do it again. Matthew (Brasme) didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.”
Racing Victoria stewards charged Delzangles under Rule 178 (E) (1), which deals with administering a substance, without the permission of stewards. to a horse before it races.
RV Integrity General Manager Dayle Brown said swabs taken from Dunaden and the paste Twydil Stomacare had come back clear of any prohibited substance.
Brown said stewards were not pushing for a six month disqualification as outlined in the mandatory rules set out by the Australian Racing Board in February.
He said it was wrong to align the Delzangles case with that of Paul Beshara, who was recently disqualified for six month for administering by way of injection an unknown substance to Happy Trails on the morning of the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley on September 14.
Brown said it would not be in the interest of justice for a six month disqualification to be imposed on Delzangles.
“It’s not in the same universe as the Beshara case,” Brown said.
“Culpability is at the low end, we would ask for a fine.”
RAD Board chairman Judge Russell Lewis agreed, describing it as “light years away”.
He noted the guilty plea of Delzangles, the remorse he displayed, the “moral contrition and the unlikelihood of re-offending” weighed heavily on the RAD Board’s mind in determining a $2,000 fine was the appropriate penalty.