Five Australian trainers and three stablehands from the now-defunct Aquanita Racing stable have been found guilty of doping horses in what Victoria’s Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board described as “probably the biggest scandal” in Australian thoroughbred racing history. The eight individuals faced 271 charges related to a systematic conspiracy over seven years to administer performance-enhancing substances, including sodium bicarbonate, to horses on race days. Evidence included a stewards’ observation of a syringe being used on a racehorse and around 1,000 incriminating text messages. One stablehand, Denise Nelligan, initially cooperated with investigators but later retracted her statements, which the board rejected.

Sanctions for the involved parties are pending, with Racing Victoria emphasizing that the verdicts send a strong message against cheating, which they say involves only a small minority in the industry. The scandal adds to a series of doping and corruption issues that have damaged the reputation of Australian horse racing, a multi-billion dollar industry previously rocked by high-profile cases such as the 2016 cobalt doping incident involving prominent trainers.