WA trainer Phil Duggan cops immediate ban after attaching metal spikes to his horse exercise apparatus

WA trotting trainer Phil Duggan has copped a six-month immediate disqualification after attaching potentially dangerous metal spikes to horse exercise apparatus at his Oakford stables. Stewards reported on Wednesday the former Perth jockey, who switched to training pacers, installed a spiked board to force horses into maintaining speed and not stopping fitness regimes. “The spikes had potential to injure a horse,” stewards said in a statement. “Racing WA investigators discovered modifications had been made to a horse walker. Attached was a spiked board to prevent a horse from stopping.” Detection of the potentially cruel spikes has further boosted Racing WA’s intense campaign to ensure horse welfare in the State’s racing industry. Stewards have also cracked down on racehorse drug treatments, recently punishing industry participants with hefty bans and fines in a bid to stamp prohibited substances out of racing. In their statement on Wednesday, stewards said: “There is a need to re-enforce and maintain a high standard of horse welfare in the industry.” Duggan, who had four starters at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night, was hit with the ban on Wednesday. He is barred from racetracks world-wide until next February. The 71-year-old trainer, who has 12 horses in his race team, denies cruelty and says he is considering an appeal against the ban. “No horse has been injured by the spikes,” Duggan said on Wednesday. “I’ve had the spikes on my horse walker for a fair while. As far as I’m concerned, the spikes have not inflicted pain on any of my horses.” Stipes also imposed a second term of six months’ disqualification on Duggan, charging him with not seeking veterinary treatment for pacer Trunkey Fletch when the gelding was ill. After assessing the case, stipes said Duggan could serve his second penalty concurrently with the spike disqualification, meaning he is out for a total of six months.