Champion jumper Black and Bent faces the possibility of losing two of his biggest wins in the wake of the disqualification of his trainer Robert Smerdon.
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Black and Bent is among 81 starters implicated in the Aquanita Racing scandal under consideration for disqualification.
Racing Victoria announced the list on Tuesday after analysing evidence with respect to 395 incidents, based on findings by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board.
Aquanita Racing trainers Robert Smerdon, Stuart Webb and Tony Vasil, and registered stablehands Greg and Denise Nelligan, Trent Pennuto and Daniel Garland were each disqualified for improper or dishonourable action(s) or practice(s) in connection with racing.
Smerdon grew up in Ballarat and became one Australia's most respected trainers, retaining stables at Dowling Forest after relocating his main base to Flemington and later Caulfield as part of Aquanita.
Black and Bent's wins in the 2011 Grand National Hurdle at Sandown and 2012 Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool are under threat.
The managing owner of each of the 81 starters will now be given a show cause notice about the findings and asked for a response, before stewards decide final penalties.
Twenty-four of the starters were winners, 24 were minor placegetters and 33 were unplaced, with the prizemoney earned by each varying from $300,000 to nothing.
More than half earned less than $10,000 in the race in question.
Racing Victoria integrity services executive general manager Jamie Stier said having considered all the facts, the stewards were satisfied that they could clearly identify 81 starters were the subject of a prohibited administration.
"The stewards are not satisfied that the other 313 starters ought be considered for disqualification as the available evidence did not definitively demonstrate that those horses were the subject of a prohibited administration on the given day.
"As people are aware, text messages between the disqualified persons were central to the RAD Board and VCAT's findings regarding the participants' improper or dishonourable action or practice; however, these texts often referred to multiple horses or lacked clarity around which horse was the subject of said practice on a given day.
"Accordingly, while the evidence made it clear that those charged had engaged in unlawful practices, determining which horses were subjected to those practices was not possible in all instances," Stier said.
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