A raid at Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir's stables has found devices that are used to deliver electric shocks that can make horses run faster.
Australian police found the illegal equipment at Darren Weir’s stables, the trainer of 2015 winner Prince of Penzance.
The findings of the devices, sometimes known as jiggers, as a result of an investigation by Racing Victoria has prompted police into looking at “corrupted betting outcomes” in the sport.
A firearm was also seized during an early morning raid on Weir’s Victoria stables where three men were arrested.
In a police statement, assistant commissioner Neil Paterson said: “The investigation isn't just about the use of jiggers. It goes to the heart of the offences that relate to the sporting integrity, so that's corrupting betting outcomes.
"Today's warrants show that Victoria Police will investigate allegations of corruption in sport and racing.
"The allegation is that they may be used against a horse... with the aim of improving their performance on a particular race day.”
Australia’s minister for Racing, Martin Pakula, said Racing Victoria not take the allegations lightly.
"This investigation demonstrates that integrity officials of Racing Victoria will enforce the rules of racing without fear or favour," he said.
The Melbourne Cup rewards winners with an eye-watering $7,300,000 purse and has increased in popularity to become one of the most well-known races in the calendar.
Australia’s racing industry, while thriving, has been hampered by allegations of wrongdoing and cheating.
In May 2018, five Australian trainers were handed bans for regularly administering doses known as “top-ups” that reduced the build-up of lactic acid in horses that allowed them to run for longer without tiring.
The use of electric-shock devices is nothing new in Australian racing. Victoria-based trainer Paul Presusker received a four-year ban for using them in 2007.
