New Zealand trainer admits tubing horse and injecting it with vodka

As reported by the NZ Herald, a harness racing trainer injected a horse with vodka and then tubed it on the morning of the biggest trotting day of the year as he felt “behind the eight ball”, and just wanted to do his best.

Phillip Burrows was disqualified from racing for 10 years by the Judicial Control Authority on Tuesday (Jan. 24).

The Herald can reveal the 51-year-old, who has been a harness trainer since 1996 with 1589 starts, was caught on camera by investigators alongside former harness rising harness racing star Matthew Anderson in November last year.

Anderson was at the time a prohibited person under the Racing Industry Act after he was convicted of assault and intentionally impeding breathing by strangulation of a woman at his home in a judge-alone trial. During the trial, Anderson denied he had assaulted or choked the woman. He claimed the woman had grabbed his arm and fell when he moved away.

On Tuesday it was revealed Racing Integrity Board investigators conducted covert surveillance of Rakero Racing Stables in Fernside, Rangiora on November 8.

The footage, which was played during the hearing, showed Burrows and Anderson bringing two horses into the tie-up area of the main stable.

The 3-year-old fillies, Rakero Rebel, and Millwood Indie, were due to race at the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club’s Day meeting at Addington Raceway that afternoon.

Twenty minutes after bringing the horses in, Anderson held the head of Rakero Rebel while Burrows injected a substance into the horse’s neck using a hypodermic syringe.

About 10 minutes later Anderson stood next to Rakero Rebel holding a twitch. A twitch is a device that is used to restrain horses for various stressful situations, such as veterinary treatment. It is usually made up of a stick-like handle with a loop of rope on the end which is wrapped around the upper lip of the horse and tightened.

Burrows then emerged from the direction of his feed room with a plastic container containing a ‘milkshake’ or ‘slurry’ and a bucket containing tubing equipment.

To read the full story, click here.

by Sam Sherwood, for NZ Herald