WEIR: "He will not be relicensed again!"

Any chance of banned trainer Darren Weir returning to racing, will not have support from Racing Victoria’s Chief Steward Rob Montgomery.

Whilst this would come as little surprise, it came through a blazingly frank interview from the industry integrity boss when a guest speaker at the Thoroughbred Club of Australia luncheon on Friday, Montgomery declaring: “he (Weir) will not be relicensed again.”

But Montgomery went even further to allude that “this wasn’t the first time”, he said in reference to Weir using a “jigger” - for which he is currently serving his long bans from racing.

“The cameras were put there for a reason,” he added.

Racing Victoria Chief Steward Rob Montgomery

(There are no supporting facts, evidence, or have been any additional charges against Weir, or others apart from the hearings that led to the four-year disqualification for possession, upgraded after that expired to a further two years for use, that run to September 9 this year, some seven and a half year plus from the initial penalty that started January 2019.

“How could anyone do that to a horse,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery added that should the Racing Victoria board - who rely on recommendations of its licensing sub-committee - find Weir is not a “fit and proper person” to be entitled a ticket again, Weir could go to the Supreme Court to challenge.

(That is not the case, as any challenge would be before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) and Racing Victoria perhaps has already shown its hand in relation to Weir, having denied his “co-conspirator” Tyson Kermond a stablehand licence, and he now waits on an appeal to VCAT in September.

Such comments, basically unsolicited, could suggest bias and pre-judgement whilst Weir serves his disqualification with no indication of any application for a license when it ends.

These Friday lunch comments were noted for the record by former head of the Adult Parole Board, as well as former President of the Children’s Court Peter Couzens, who provided a highly touted reference for Weir at his Victorian Racing Appeals Tribunal hearing.

RV’s chief steward was expansive and open in his commentary on Weir Friday, at the packed Thoroughbred Club monthly lunch at East Melbourne’s Il Duca Restaurant.

This was no simple throat clearing, and before a substantial group of industry heavyweights, the Thoroughbred Club, dating back to 1968, whose membership includes race club officials, lawyers, owners, trainers, bookmakers, corporate players and significantly diverse participants. (I am an honorary member of the club and was in attendance as such.)

Montgomery was an invited guest speaker by club member Justin Hoy and interviewed by respected journalist Rod Nicholson.

Montgomery spoke of his New Zealand background as a South Island apprentice before moving to Epsom, riding work for Rick Hore-Lacy and Octagonal in gallops, before meeting with then Australian Workers Union rep Bill Shorten to sort redundancy packages as the track closed down and he morphed into stewarding.

There was also an entertaining presentation in relation to protest hearings and working through videos before Nicholson, proposed a hypothetical question about Weir that elicited these expansive responses.

Racing Victoria would not directly comment on the record of Montgomery’s words reprised here, suggesting he was speaking from his personal thoughts as a guest before the Thoroughbred Club, and may have thought they were under “Chatham House” rules, but advised that Montgomery would not be involved in any of the licensing hearings, if Weir decided to reapply.

That said, it would not be a long bow to draw that the chief steward’s thoughts and observations were not broadly permeated across the integrity department, noting RV’s refusal already in relation to Kermond being re-licensed.

It is naive in the obvious to think before an audience including Melbourne Racing Club chairman Cameron Fisher, Thoroughbred Club chairman Warran Brown, trainer Robbie Griffiths, along with some influential others that such upfront comments would not hold some related resonance.

Indeed, they did, especially over the weekend, as the gravity of them were more deeply discussed and why the chief steward would think he needed to make them at all, and at such a gathering publicly.

But it was Montgomery’s assertion that “this was not the first time” that Weir had allegedly used a jigger, adding “the cameras were put there for a reason”, that stunned many.

Despite extensive video surveillance and phone taps, that police and stewards only laid charges against Weir, former trainer Jarrod McLean and Kermond, on the 15 minutes of footage publicly aired involving the horses Red Cardinal, Yogi and Tosen Basil at the Warrnambool stables on October 30, 2018.

Warrnambool Magistrate Franz Johann Holzer, in a December 2022 hearing of police charges relating to animal cruelty, ruled as such in issuing a fine without conviction to all involved.

Magistrate Holzer said although appalling behaviour, the abuse was a “one-off’ and only occurred for a ‘short period’ of time and appeared to have no long-lasting effects on any of the three horses involved.

He added in the four years since the “isolated” offending, all three men had sustained embarrassment and damage to their reputations

“That’s a punishment each of these men will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

Whilst Weir has been serving his ban from racing, other than being allowed to pre-train horses from his Baringhup property for a period of time for some of Australia’s biggest and most influential owners, with approval, shared co-operation and surveillance from Racing Victoria, the body had strengthened (in January 2024) its “fit and property person” rules through a revised Suitability Policy, clearly aimed at public confidence and improved animal welfare.

Darren Weir at his Baringhup property

Given Weir pleaded guilty to police charges of animal cruelty, any submission for re-licensing would need to address remorse, rehabilitation, references and a raft of other positive concessions and support, to convince the Board of what would be a highly controversial application.

Weir has continued to serve his disqualifications in basically public silence, and there is no indication at this stage if he will seek a license once his latest disqualification expires in September.

But the brazen comments of Racing Victoria’s chief steward in a heavy-hitters environment last Friday lays a very clear early marker.

It marries comments of the RV chairman Tim Eddy on Weir’s original ban saying his conduct “struck at the heart of the two pillars upon which the horse racing industry stands – animal welfare and integrity.”

He elaborated: “The actions of the individuals in this case not only severely damaged racing’s reputation, but also tarnished the image of hard-working, rule-abiding individuals in our industry who devote their lives to the horses and act for the betterment of the sport,” he said.

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Update: Racing Victoria ultimately released a statement that was included in a story on the website www.betsy.com.au. It read:

”Rob Montgomery was invited to attend the Thoroughbred Club luncheon as a guest speaker. When asked a direct question as to whether Darren Weir should be relicensed again, he responded that his personal opinion was that he should not be due to the nature of his offending.”

”He did so in the knowledge that he would not be involved in any decision making regarding any possible future applications by Mr Weir for a licence with Racing Victoria. This is on the basis that he was the lead investigator and prosecutor in Mr Weir’s case and thus his participation would already be considered a conflict of interest.”

”Should Mr Weir make future application for a licence with RV it would go through the same process as any other disqualified person via the Licensing Panel and a show cause hearing before the RV Board makes the final determination. For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Montgomery would not be involved in any parts of that process.”

”Licensing applications are determined in accordance with RV’s Licensing Policy and each is considered on its merits at the time of the application. RV and its relevant decision makers have formed no opinion on whether Mr Weir ought be relicensed again should he make application.’’

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It is also noted that Weir’s eldest daughter Taige was recently licensed by Racing Victoria as a trainer from her Ballarat property and last week had six horses’ trial officially at Camperdown, with her first racetrack runners expected soon, possibly Kyneton this Friday.