Vet Denies Cobalt Connection

The head vet at Flemington Equine Clinic in Australia denied supplying embattled trainer Sam Kavanagh with cobalt at a Tuesday hearing, according to Racing and Sports. Kavanagh, one of a handful of Australian trainers wrapped up in the cobalt scandal, has been stood down from training since last month, and bottles of an injectable liquid Kavanagh said he bought from the clinic labeled as “vitamin complex' are at the center of an inquiry. 

Samantha Potter, an employee of the Flemington Equine Clinic, gave evidence that she sent the bottles to Kavanagh and recorded the transaction, but the notebook containing that record is now missing, with Dr. Tom Brennan, one of the co-owners of the practice, denying the transaction took place. Potter also revealed she saw Brennan drawing a drip from a similar bottle taken from the back of his car while it was parked at trainer Danny O'Brien's Flemington barn last spring. O'Brien is another trainer involved in the cobalt scandal along with Kavanagh's father, Mark, Peter Moody and Lee and Shannon Hope. 

Brennan testified Tuesday that Kavanagh had paid A$1000 in cash–they would only accept cash because Kavanagh owed the clinic money–for chocolate drenches containing sugar, bicarbonate and vitamin B. He also denied threatening Kavanagh to keep his clinic out of the story.