The Racing Appeals & Disciplinary Board agrees that Queensland trainer Nathan Schofield should be disqualified for 12 months following the incident where he was caught with tubing paraphernalia in his possession on a race day. According to the RAD Board, Schofield's conduct was an action of a cheat dismissing the latter's appeal against the severity of the sanction imposed by the Racing Victoria stewards, as reported by the Racing Network in Australia.

Stomach tubing is a common practice for horse owners and while it is not, in anyway, illegal, owners and trainers are not allowed to conduct procedure on the race day as it can be viewed as cheating in the sport. Legendary trainers have long suggested that any trainers that would be caught doing the procedure should received severe penalties or long disqualification just to emphasize they do not condone cheating.

Racing is one of the most popular and prestigious sports especially in Australia, Britain and England. Cheaters will certainly leave a stain on the good name of the sport and thus, it is just right to impose severe penalties to whoever caught cheating. Judge Russell Lewis of the RAD Board described Schofield's conduct as "another stain on the image of racing" as the latter tried to gain "unfair advantage" over honest trainers.

Members of Compliance Assurance Team caught Schofield with items capable stomach tubing Beseech during a random visit to the Geelong stables. The racehorse was scratch immediately from its race following the incident as ordered by stewards, according to a report from The Australian.

News sources: The Australian | BigPond News

Image credit: Herald Sun AU