Henry Plumptre, former managing director of Godolphin Australia, on Friday pleaded guilty to a charge of not immediately and properly reporting a confirmed case of strangles in the Godolphin racehorse Polemic (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) last August. According to Racenet.com.au, Plumptre's counsel, Peter Branham, asked Racing NSW stewards to impose a fine rather than a ban so Plumptre could salvage a career as a bloodstock agent. According to Racenet, Plumptre read the following statement at Friday's hearing: “In considering penalty I would like you to consider my 40 years in the Thoroughbred industry. At the time of the Polemic incident I was dealing with a serious bullying issue at Osborne Park. I noticed there was a strong reluctance from the training team to report it and I agreed to monitor the colt. At the time did I consider the bullying issue to be of more importance? The answer would be yes and I acknowledge that would be wrong. It's of great disappointment to me that I failed in this instance. I have breached a rule of racing. It is a matter of great disappointment I failed in this instance.”
John O'Shea, who was head trainer at Godolphin at the time the strangles case surfaced, pleaded not guilty to failing to properly report the strangles case and to providing false and/or misleading evidence at a stewards interview on June 16 and a stewards inquiry on June 26. The hearing was adjourned to allow stewards to give consideration to the evidence and submissions made.
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