Tasracing succeeds in Supreme Court bid to 'warn off' harness racing trainer Ben Yole from Tasmanian racetracks

Mr Yole is Tasmania’s leading harness trainer and had previously described all allegations as “patently false”. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)

A Supreme Court decision in favour of Tasracing will allow it to ban harness trainer Ben Yole from entering its Tasmanian racetracks, after the peak body’s earlier bid was overturned on appeal.

At a hearing in Hobart on Friday, Justice Robert Pearce dismissed an application made by Mr Yole’s lawyer for an injunction against Tasracing that prevented it from issuing “warning off” notices.

Justice Pearce told Mr Yole’s lawyer Damian Sheales that the grounds of their application for the injunction “had not been made out” and that upon deliberation the originating application had been dismissed.

He also ordered Mr Yole to pay costs to Tasracing.

When Tasracing attempted to issue a 28-day warning off notice in February it claimed that Mr Yole’s attendance at its racecourses had a “real and substantial likelihood of damaging the integrity and reputation” of the industry.

The original “warning off” notice was issued off the back of the release of the Ray Murrihy report, which investigated allegations aired by the ABC against Mr Yole relating to team driving, animal welfare concerns and race fixing.

Representatives for Mr Yole had sought the injunction after successfully appealing the issuing of warning off notices by Tasracing to Ben Yole, Tim Yole, Mitch Ford and Nathan Ford.

In upholding the appeal, the Tasmanian Racing Appeals Board had found that Tasracing did not have the legal authority to enforce the rules of racing via the issuing of a “warning off” notice, and that the appellants had not been “afforded natural justice”.

But Justice Pearce rejected the notion that TasRacing did not have the appropriate authority to “warn off”, given the findings of the Ray Murrihy report.

In his judgement, he said “I would reject the proposition that the power of TasRacing to warn off a person where there is credible evidence of such conduct depends on whether or not the person is licensed, or whether the stewards or director also have power to deal with that person”.

Friday’s Supreme Court decision paves the way for Tasracing to issue fresh “warning off” notices against Mr Yole and the other three named in the appeal.

Tasracing considers next steps

In a statement, chief executive officer Andrew Jenkins said Tasracing would “immediately consider next steps” and “what options were available to it, for the good of the harness racing industry in the state”.

It’s unclear when, or if, Tasracing will issue fresh “warning off” notices against the quartet of participants.

Ben Yole is the listed trainer of 17 runners scheduled to race in Hobart this Sunday, with a further 28 to be trained by his father, Wayne. Nathan Ford is also booked for four drives on Sunday.

Ray Murrihy, the former chief steward for Racing NSW who was commissioned by the Tasmanian government to undertake the investigation, determined there had been “non-compliance of the rules of racing” in relation to a number of the allegations.

An independent panel of stewards, comprising Dayle Brown, Barry Delaney and Larry Wilson is investigating 15 separate races that Mr Murrihy determined may have involved “questionable race tactics”.

Allegations relating to the mistreatment of horses, as well as the administration of intra-articular, or joint, injections to horses outside allowed periods have also been referred for investigation.

The RSPCA is investigating a number of animal welfare complaints.

Mr Yole will have two weeks to appeal Friday’s Supreme Court decision.

His lawyer was contacted for comment.

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