Victoria Police has denied withholding evidence which Darren Weir's lawyers say could exonerate the Melbourne Cup-winning trainer of animal abuse charges.
On Tuesday and Wednesday the Ballarat Magistrates' Court held a virtual committal hearing for Mr Weir and his former stable staff, Jarrod McLean and Tyson Kermond, who each face charges of animal abuse and conspiracy to defraud stewards.
The hearing was held to determine the strength of the prosecution's case and whether it was strong enough to go to trial.
The case against Mr Weir and his former staff relates to video footage secretly obtained from the trainer's Warrnambool stables in October 2018.
Police allege Melbourne Cup runner Red Cardinal, Japanese import Tosen Basil, and subsequent Sandown Cup winner Yogi were all hit with a conducted-energy device known as a jigger, while they were galloping and wearing blinkers in Warrnambool.
Mr Weir's lawyers grilled Police Detective Senior Constable Cliff Pickett as to why only a few hours of footage were shown to expert witness Andrew McLean, who fronted the hearing yesterday.
Senior Constable Pickett agreed some of the video evidence captured could potentially exonerate Mr Weir.
When asked why he did not show Dr McLean the full recording, he said he did not think "it was feasible and it wasn't relevant".
"I didn't withhold, I just chose not to show him," Senior Constable Pickett said.
The court also heard police requested interviews with jockeys involved in the Weir horses, and others that rode in the 2018 Melbourne Cup.
Senior Constable Pickett told the court police unsuccessfully requested an interview with two to three jockeys.
"I thought it was very important, but they weren't very forthcoming in talking and cooperating with police," he said.
Red Cardinal finished second last in that year's 3,200 metre race, ridden by Damien Oliver.
Weir said he loves horses
The court heard Mr Weir told police he trained because he loved horses, and he did not train for the gambling.
His assistant trainer, Mr McLean, as well as former jockey William Hernan, are facing corrupt betting charges.
Lawyers for Mr McLean accused Senior Constable Pickett of submitting deliberately misleading information in his brief, by "slicing and dicing" up transcripts of phone conversations to deliberately paint his client in a bad light.
Defence lawyer Jason Galluci accused police of putting together "footy highlights" of the recorded conversations.
Senior Constable Pickett refuted the allegations, saying the transcripts had been provided in their entirety.
"I would never deliberately splice things together," he said.
Mr Weir appeared via videolink at the hearing, sitting flanked by lawyers in a long room.
Mr McLean and Mr Kermond also appeared at various times through the hearing on weblink.
Lawyers for Mr Weir and Mr Kermond told the court they planned to make an application to dismiss the conspiracy charges because they were "misconceived and duplicitous" and had "no evidence of sufficient weight to find a conviction".
Magistrate Ron Saines reserved his decision at the conclusion of the hearing. He will determine whether the four racing identities will face court during a subsequent hearing in Ballarat on October 8.
