Another Weiry day in court!

The seemingly endless courtroom saga of one-time horse training legend Darren Weir had another run in the Court of Appeal Tuesday, Court 1 on the ground floor of the old High Court building in Little Bourke Street, that's not the Chinatown end.

If the defendants, in this case, that is Racing Victoria have their say, Weir will not have a racetrack runner at all until at least September 9, next year, of course - that on the proviso he applies for a licence that he once made famous and with that, in a turn of the bench chair, they have the power to even grant him one.

If Weir, the plaintiff here, can get some leverage in this appeal, a best-case scenario would be a backdate four-year penalty, with time served (to February 2023) and a chance to consider that application, or worse case, perhaps a little time shaved off and closer to such, or then just ride it out and be left to meander through cows at his Trevenson Park property at Baringhup.

Setting the scenes, Wier, alongside trusty long time lieutenant Mick Leonard and a new legal team, strode in with his go-to court light blue suit and usual bashful hellos. Of course, you'd sense he'd be a million other preferred places away, mostly all of them to do with horses, not people.

Darren Weir

This was the play though at Tuesday's hearing before relatively new Supreme Court beak, Justice Adrian Finanzio, elevated just February 25 , with Paul Holdenson KC for RV, with much vigour and bluster defending of the Victorian Racing Tribunal's decision to add and start a two-year disqualification in September last year, when concluding their much delayed hearings, knowing Weir had already served a four-year ban, that had expired some 19 months earlier.

Justice Paul Holdenson

You don't need me now surely to tell you why these penalties were imposed, suffice to simply re-iterate it started with possession then eventually use (with new evidence) of an electrical device, yes jigger, on three horses leading into the 2018 Melbourne Cup carnival.

All of which Weir admitted to and helped RV in prosecuting him. Other ongoing police (dropped) and civil matters played out in the intervening periods, preventing Weir realistically applying for a licence once the first ban ended. Much was made of this Tuesday.

No need to go back over the finite details in this court report, the Tuesday hearing was focussed on matters of law, how the rules of racing were entwined, a judicial review, if I seek a simplistic overview to complex matters submitted across a long day.

As in all legal matters it seems who can produce the knockout, or t least, the most relevant approach.

And the impressive Justice Finanzio "not surprisingly I am reserving my decision" was his last statement as he left the Court for consideration. All rise. Bow, goodbye.

Justice Finanzio

Finanzio is a tall elegant, thoughtfully well-spoken man, thoroughly involved in all legal cut and thrust of the day - as you would expect any Court Of Appeal Justice to be.

He was not a mean to be read, one to pose the appropriate questions to the before him legal teams and lead KC's, Holdenson for RV and Jim Murdoch for Weir.

Murdoch, a licensed racehorse trainer himself for eons in Queensland, he owns most of the off-course stable's trainers in the Deagon area still in use, (I've known him since I was a clocker there in the 1980's)and he is coming off an impressive run of high-profile interstate legal racing cases, from Chris Munce and CCTV footage to Lindsay Hatch and a cobalt charge.

Murdoch had his last runner as a trainer (Mister Blaze) at the Sunshine Coast December 22 last year. His last winner was Sid, back in March 19, 2021, he hasn't had many runners, but 50 plus winners over a longer licence than Weir has held.

Murdoch is to this court stage, what Damien Sheales wasn't, yet Sheales got a mention once or twice from Holdenson, a long time RV go to legal man, when he "erupted" after the July 5, 2024, VRT Tribunal findings re penalty.

Jim Murdoch

Murdoch laid out the Weir appeal across three pillars:

• Double punishment

• Special circumstances

• Unreasonableness of the aggregate penalty imposed.

I won't take you to all the Australian Rules Of Racing that were then outlined alongside the Local Rules that were relevant, that is for Justice Finanzio to now consider after all the long submissions - to which listened to graciously and never pushed for speed and briefness.

But it is relevant in reporting to mention (as was extensively done by all parties) to then current and subsequent er-written rules. So log in here from the Weir team AR 61, AR 101, Local Rule (LR) 26, 28, AR 104, LR 21, AR 226,227, 228, 231 - all key to the case, but let's say not worthy of going further here from there. You can research yourself given reference.

Murdoch went extensively into matters of chronology of events, landing on double punishment but it was the matter of special circumstance that became a legal argument of substance in these discussions.

Which would lead to matters on unreasonableness, an acknowledgement of guilt, and then other associated matters.

Holdenson would highlight the delays for RV from the July 5 decisions at the VRT, from which the disqualification was imposed but submissions then called as to a starting date to penalty which led to a September 2 and September 9 with a week to clear horses for Weir.

"The Tribunal's conclusion (re that penalty) was not unreasonable," he submitted before a barrage of discussion re AR 263 and its associated appropriations re disqualifications, specifically in relation to Weir.

So should Weir stand at 7 years plus 7 months as their counsel submitted to not be interpreted any other way.

Mentions of a James McDonald case for legals raise "special circumstance, this other intrigue but to relevance, not sure.

RV's team came up with an unheard-of term - HENDIADYS -supposedly "deemed or considered, expressing single conveyed by two words, deemed and consider connected by conjunction - or - each word in that expression tending to colour the other word. It's now in transcript as much as we can all relate.

All of which meant to RV's team, there was no common element in February 2019, and then September 2024, to be daleth with on the same scale.

Perhaps more relevant, in dealing with penalty and dates: this was offered

*What was dealt with February 2019and then September 24. - no common elements no common acts, nothing is wholly subsumed within the other, said Holdenson .

We can go further down the rabbit holes - double punishments, well, discussed, interpretations of an often-offered term diverse consequences, etc. but this is the lasting impression today's matters.

Both Weir and Racing Victoria now wait on Justice Finanzio's rulings on the laws presented to him and arguments for and against - or whether anything is possibly referred back to the VRT.

Hopefully not.

And sadly, especially for Weir - more to come. But when?

And then as the hearing concluded today, Weir learned that dual jockey Will Gordon, partner of his daughter Taige, and running a pre-training business at Ballarat, had tumbled in the Brierley at The Bool - "He's a tough man, a hard worker."

Gordon cut a nose!

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