HORSE RACING
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Kembla Grange trainer Shane Kember plans to appeal a 15-month disqualification for a series of offences, including possession of a whip capable of inflicting cruelty to a horse.
He was disqualified after a raid on his stables in October last year by the investigation and surveillance unit.
Seven charges were laid against Kember, among them administering a medication containing a prohibited substance to his horse, Craig'n'ian, hours before it was scheduled to race at Nowra.
Investigators found traces of the banned substance, ethacrynic acid, stored in an unregistered and unlabelled container.
Kember denied administering ethacrynic acid to the gelding, but stewards found him guilty in a hearing that ended last week.
He was handed a six-month disqualification for using the medication on race day and a nine-month disqualification for the detection of a prohibited substance in the horse's urine sample prior to its engagement.
Kember was cleared of administering the medication to enhance the horse's performance. The disqualifications were to be served concurrently.
The raid also uncovered an unapproved wire whip covered with electrical tape in Kember's tack room at his Kembla Grange stables.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of being in possession of an article capable of inflicting cruelty to a horse.
He was found guilty and hit with a further six-month disqualification on top of his nine-month ban. Stewards took into account Kember's clear record as a trainer of four years before determining the penalty.
Kember cannot re-apply for his licence until June 21, 2015.
Chief steward Ray Murrihy said there was no evidence to suggest Kember had used the whip on any horse.
"It was found on a beam in the tack room," Murrihy said.
"If there was evidence that suggested that [the whip had been used] it would have been a more serious charge."
Kember confirmed to The Punt that he would "100 per cent" fight the penalties which he said he was "very unhappy" with.
Kember was also fined $1100 for employing an unregistered person to help with the care of racehorses and for not keeping a record of all treatments for four days prior to October 8.