Regular readers will recall this story which we ran back in June.

I decided to leave it there, pending the appeal, before commenting further.

That appeal has since taken place and the penalty has been addressed. A new finding of ‘reprimand’ has been handed down, but the fine removed.

Now, I have no doubt that the many self proclaimed Kings Counsels, pharmaceutical chemists and animal rights activists who regularly contribute to the industry forums will be outraged that ‘Wallis got away with it’ ‘He must have some dirt on Mark Bird’, ‘Probably bribed the appeals board’ (Which did include a KC incidentally, but not the GBGB CEO)

Now while they are entitled to their opinions – I am exercising my option of not giving a monkey’s toss what they think.

What does concern me is this. . .

In their evidence in the enquiry, the prosecution accused the 13-time Champion Trainer of being ‘reckless and negligent’ and wanted him warned off!

Mark was devastated when he found out.

Can you imagine the fall-out for the industry?

’Top greyhound trainer banned for doping dogs!’

WTF – is that all about?

Now – if Mark had been caught plying his hounds with amphetamines, cocaine, or any form of stopper, I would be the first to say ‘let me see how far I can throw the key’

His ‘crime’ was to administer a freely available supplement designed to compensate fatigue.

That is its sole purpose. It isn’t a backyard remedy. It was created by the greatest performance animal nutrition expert ever, John Kohnke. The former Greyhound Star vet’s clients include Sheik Maktoum who he has met on many occasions.

Mark – and hundreds of other trainers – have used Ironcyclen for decades.

But Mark made two mistakes.

The first was administering the dose over four days post race instead of the usual, two.

His second was telling the truth.

He also admits, being a bit flustered because the virtual inquiry took place on a day when he unexpectedly had staff off, the Team meeting started later than expected, thorugh no fault of the trainer, and he had to feed the kennel and head off to Sheffield open racing on that particular Tuesday afternoon.

So all’s well that ends well?

No – absobloodylutely not!!

I want to know how on earth the prosecution came to a decision to attempt to wreck the career of the outstanding trainer of his generation?

A hard working family man who is held in high esteem by all his peers and has had the guts of 10,000 greyhounds tested during a long career.

Mark’s fellow trainers rallied around, understanding the close proximity of a miscarriage of justice, and that support was a huge deal for the man himself.

But when you ask Mark, how he would have felt had GBGB had its way, and removed his licence, livelihood, reputation and legacy and he replies ‘suicidal’ – you do wonder!

 

So let’s talk about the role of the trainer in this industry.

There have always been promoters who treat trainers with disrespect though my biggest personal battles are with the authorities – particularly the NGRC – who institutionally dismissed trainers with utter contempt.

Mark didn’t seek to gain anything by administering Ironcyclen to Antigua Sugar and Blueberry Bullet.

Cobalt is not a performance enhancer.

He was not trying to cheat

If he – in his professional opinion – considered that both bitches had come off the track tired, he had several options.

He could have ignored it. Not treated either bitch knowing that he could help alleviate their discomfort.

Where does that fit in the welfare debate?

He could have treated them and withdrawn them.

Had I owned either, they would have been the last runners he would have trained for me.

He could have put them on a drip, an invasive procedure that many vets would have one recommended.

Of course he could have done nothing, kept it quiet, had a quiet word with a friend on Betfair and suggested laying them to win the finals.

He did, what he thought was the right thing by the dogs, the owners, the tracks, the sponsors, the punters and the betting industry.

But isn’t that what trainers do most of the time?

I have made a living talking to trainers who have every chance to cheat and don’t.

‘He has been injured and needs the race’

‘She came into season and still looks a bit short of her best’

‘Ron Mills checked him over and found a niggle, I am expecting a big improvement’

Now I am not naïve enough to think that trainers don’t sometimes ‘forget’ to notify a track that a bitch is in season.

Or sometimes they don’t want to alert a vet that a dog has been treated for a cut pad – just in case.

But don’t think that there aren’t dozens of occasions every year where, instead of withdrawing a lame runner from a race, he could run it and play on the exchanges.

(Unless a dog was on three legs, most track vets wouldn’t have the time or expertise to spot a subtle TFL tear or even an inflamed tendon.)

But this is – in my opinion – a largely honest industry, and a million miles from the one I first came into half a century ago.

If we go back to the days when the authorities’ first instinct is that ‘trainers are at it’, we might as well invite the antis to contribute to inquiries.

I guess the one overwhelming silver lining to this troubling cloud is the appeals system worked and we haven’t lost a fabulous trainer.