Horse trainer makes bizarre claim that news of inquiry had reached Buckingham Palace.
Prominent trainer Gai Waterhouse was found guilty at the end of a high-profile Australian racing inquiry which she claimed had attracted the interest of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Waterhouse, 58, was fined a total of $5,500 after being found guilty by stewards of two charges relating to the condition and treatment of the mare More Joyous.
It was the culmination of a celebrity inquiry that involved prominent racehorse owner and businessman John Singleton, former Australian rugby league great Andrew Johns and several colourful racing characters.
Stewards ruled that Waterhouse, whose bookmaker son Tom Waterhouse was also involved in the inquiry, should have reported the mare’s soreness in the neck and her treatment with an antibiotic in the lead-up to the All Aged Stakes at Sydney’s Randwick racecourse on April 27.
Despite being one of the favoured runners in the Group One race, More Joyous finished second-last.
The result saw Singleton publicly sack Waterhouse as his trainer, and accuse her son Tom Waterhouse of revealing inside information to his television colleague Johns that the mare could not win.
Gai Waterhouse denied ever discussing the mare’s condition with her son, and the inquiry found Tom Waterhouse had done nothing wrong. Singleton was fined Aus$15,000 for his public tirade.
Such was the local media fascination with the events leading up to and including the inquiry that Waterhouse claimed that Queen Elizabeth II had an interest in the proceedings.
“Even the Queen says to her racing manager, ‘What is going on with Gai Waterhouse in Australia?’ ” Waterhouse told the final sitting of the inquiry.
Waterhouse trains Carlton House for the Queen, the only horse which the monarch has racing in Australia.
Waterhouse’s fine was in two parts – $500 for not keeping up-to-date records and $5,000 on the more serious charge of not reporting the mare’s condition.
Gai Waterhouse said she was disappointed and would consider an appeal.
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