Reply With QuoteSorry all, I should have realised this story was paywalled. If you have a news.com.au subscription you can access the story. I'll try and copy it and let it again.
In case that linked page changes (for non Advertiser subscribers)Originally Posted by Showgrounds
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Sorry all, I should have realised this story was paywalled. If you have a news.com.au subscription you can access the story. I'll try and copy it and let it again.
I have now copied the story, first published in The Advertiser in Adelaide on 1 August. And she drove another winner tonight.
Harness Racing SA gives driver’s licence to notorious racing figure Gaita Pullicino
One of Australia’s most controversial harness racing figures is competing in SA despite serious disqualifications and fines stretching back 30 years, including doping horses.
Colin James, The Messenger
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August 1, 2020 9:41am
South Australia’s peak harness racing body has defended its decision to allow one of the ailing sport’s most controversial individuals to compete.
Harness Racing SA (HRSA) granted a driver’s licence six months ago to veteran driver and trainer Gaita Pullicino despite serious misdemeanours reaching back 30 years.
Mrs Pullicino, 64, incurred repeated disqualifications and fines for doping horses, punching a witness during an inquiry, hiding from stewards in a wardrobe, hitting another driver with a whip and being at stables and racetracks while banned.
One of the most recent incidents involving Mrs Pullicino was in 2017, when she ran away from stewards at a Melbourne horse training property with a satchel that she refused to hand over, along with her mobile phone.
HRSA chief executive Ross Neal confirmed Mrs Pullicino had been allowed back into the industry in January after she and her husband, Frank, moved from Victoria two years ago.
Mr Neal, a former head of racing integrity in New Zealand, said he had met with Mrs Pullicino to explain there would be “zero tolerance” for any misconduct.
“She is well aware of the consequences should there be any issue in relation to the way she conducts herself in South Australia,” he said.
Mr Neal said the HRSA board was fully aware of Mrs Pullicino’s checkered history before it granted her a driver’s licence.
“It was always going to be a controversial decision but the board at the time believed people should be afforded a second chance and that she had served her time,” he said.
Mr Neal said regular inspections by HRSA stewards had been conducted of the stables operated by Mr and Mrs Pullicino on Barrabba Rd, Mallala.
Mrs Pullicino’s presence has disturbed some harness racing industry participants, with regular commentary on social media about dramatic performance improvements by some of the couple’s horses.
Mr Neal said horses trained by Mr Pullicino and driven by his wife had been subjected to drug tests before and after they had raced.
“All of the horses have been swabbed regularly and all of those swabs have been sent to Victoria for testing,” he said.
Mr Neal said Mrs Pullicino had been told “that any breaches of any of our rules will have dire consequences”.
“To date, seven months into the season, she hasn’t given us any reason for concern.”
Mrs Pullicino is currently sixth on the state premiership table, with 30 winners and 47 placegetters this season from 251 drives.
Several of the horses she has driven for her husband, who was granted a trainer’s license by HRSA, have gone from being unplaced in previous races to recording consecutive wins.
Mr Neal said nothing untoward had been detected in blood and urine tests undertaken on the horses.
“In support of the Pullicinos, they are good trainers and South Australia needs good trainers,” he said.
“They present their horses well and they race well.
“They have a good record over the years in regards to their training of their horses.”
The couple’s move to South Australia in 2018 followed a permanent disqualification of Mrs Pullicino by Harness Racing Victoria in 2008, which was upheld by the Victorian Civil and Administration Tribunal (VCAT) in 2009.
In a damning judgment, VCAT Deputy President Anne Coghlan found Mrs Pullicino was “not a fit and proper person” to be involved in harness racing.
“Her pattern of past offences is very serious,” she said.
“It reveals that Mrs Pullicino over a substantial period of time has not kept to the rules, that she is dishonest and has no regard for the regulators of harness racing.
“She has already had many chances to show she is reformed but on her return from disqualification, she has again repeatedly offended.”
Mrs Coghlan said Mrs Pullicino wrongly believed she had been victimised.
“At every turn, she has claimed she has been treated badly by the stewards, singled out, harassed and picked on,” said her judgment.
“She pleaded that she be given a second chance.
“She apologised, said she was sorry for what she had done and promised to obey the rules.”
Instead, Mrs Pullicino had continued to break the law, including injecting horses with prohibited substances such as methamphetamine, phenylbutazone, oxyphenbutazone and phenobarbitone.
“In 1999 she got into serious trouble with a horse called Nuclear Ash and events surrounding a disciplinary hearing,” said Mrs Coghlan.
“The offences included the doping of the horse and misrepresenting who was its trainer.”
Mrs Coghlan said during an inquiry into Nuclear Ash, Mrs Pullicino punched a witness before telling a relative, Paul Pullicino, to “hit the c …”.
GAITA PULLICINO’S TRACK RECORD
June 1991: Suspended for three months for wilfully supplying false information
December 1991: Fined $10,000 for having a disqualified person on her property
February 1992: Disqualified for 12 months for failing to allow a horse to run on its merits
April 1992: Disqualified for six months for abusing and striking another driver with a whip after a race
February 1995: Disqualified for two years for presenting a horse, Give Us A Gift, with banned substances including amphetamine
November 1998: Convicted and fined $3000 for fraudulently collecting prize-money from Give Us A Gift
July 1999: Disqualified for six months for giving false and misleading information about another horse, Nuclear Ash; disqualified for two years for presenting Nuclear Ash with a prohibited substance; disqualified for 12 months for conspiring to deceive the public about Nuclear Ash; disqualified for six months and fined $10,000 for assaulting a witness during a steward’s inquiry
January 2001: Disqualified for 12 months for attending race meetings six times in Tasmania while disqualified
February 2004: Disqualified for 3 years for being on a horse training property run by her son while disqualified
September 2006: Disqualified for 611 days for driving a horse while disqualified, fined $10,000 for abusing stewards and interfering with an inquiry
May 2008: Application for a driver’s and stable hand licence refused by Harness Racing Victoria
May 2009: Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal upholds decision, finding Pullicino “not a fit and person”
September 2013: Granted probationary driver’s and training licence with limit of six horses
March 2014: Stewards’ inspection finds more than six horses on her property
September 2014: Inquiry finds she breached her trainer’s licence conditions and it is cancelled
September 2015: Unsuccessfully appeals to Victorian Supreme Court against the decision
May 2017: Runs away from stewards at a Victorian property with a satchel and mobile phone, which she refuses to hand over. Horses at property banned from racing until tests show they are drug-free
August 2018: Disqualified for 12 months for preparing to inject horses with prohibited substances and failing to hand over the satchel and mobile phone
March 2019: Permission granted by Victorian court to live at Mallala on condition she not enter any area connected to harness racing such as stables, treatment sheds, paddocks or training tracks.
January 2020: Granted a driver’s licence by Harness Racing SA while husband Frank, a former truck driver, is granted a trainer’s licence. Couple start competing at SA harness racing meetings.
“That she would take matters into her own hands in that way during a disciplinary hearing suggests a total lack of respect for authority and a total lack of personal control and is disgraceful conduct,” she said.
In April 2005, Mrs Pullicino tried to stop stewards from entering a Victorian property where she and her husband were training horses.
“There is video footage of the visit, her behaviour is atrocious,” said Mrs Coghlan.
“Swearing, pushing the stewards, claiming they had no right to enter and demanding they leave.
“When repeatedly asked by the stewards which horses were on the property, she refused to answer claiming ‘that’s my business’.”
During another visit by stewards to stables run by her son — where Mrs Pullicino could not be because of disqualification — she was “caught red-handed” hiding in a wardrobe before claiming she had visited the property to use the toilet.
Mrs Coglan said that while she accepted Mrs Pullicino might be an experienced trainer and driver with more than 1500 winners, her record “reveals very serious departures from the rules”.
“She has failed to let a horse run on its merits, she has abused and hit another driver,” she said.
“Her record demonstrates that she has the temper of someone clearly with anger management problems who, even though disqualified, continued to breach the rules and was further disqualified.
“It reveals she is a person who has an ongoing lack of respect not only for the stewards and those who regulate harness racing but for the rules of harness racing.”
Mrs Coglan said while Mr Pullicino, a truck driver, had applied in Victoria for a trainer’s licence “it is difficult to conclude other than that the reality would be Mrs Pullicino would be training and driving the horses”.
“Given the nature of harness racing, if she were given a driver’s licence she would potentially effectively be able to run the whole show,” she said.
Refusing to grant Mrs Pullicino a licence, Mrs Coglan said for an industry such as harness racing to operate properly “it is important that those who participate in it have respect for the authority of the stewards and adhere to the rules”.
“I am not satisfied that Mrs Pullicino has that respect and would adhere to the rules,” she said.
Contacted for comment, Mrs Pullicino said she appreciated being given a second chance and was abiding by the rules of harness racing under the conditions of her licence.
“I know I have made mistakes in the past and I am very, very grateful for Harness Racing South Australia for giving me this opportunity with my horses,” she said.
“I believe the people of South Australia will accept me and South Australia is now my home.”
Thanks for that Trevor, I was staggered when I saw here name appear earlier in the year. It's just a joke that someone with her record could ever get a licence again. They can keep her !
Don't die wondering !
If this is the way our officials think. They make us all look like mugs
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Globe Derby Park used to be home to the Australian Trotting Hall of Fame, the imposing bluestone barn near the apex of the turn out of the main straight. It was a pretty good initiative but died, probably through a lack of interest. It later became offices. I have long proposed a Harness Racing Hall of Shame as the number of miscreants seems to be outnumbering heroes as time goes on. Perhaps the old bluestone building could be repurposed.
Upon their passing, nominees could be cast in bronze and put on display. I'd suggest alphabetical order so that N for Neal could be next to P for Pullicino. Holding hands, perhaps.
Rightio, I don't follow SA harness racing but tonight at Terang the 2yo winner came from there
QUESTION: What track is South Australia
That is what is showing in the Form Guide
It is what I find when I go to the results for that meet
But when I go HRA's Tracks page there is no track called South Australia
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
From the meeting calendar and race distances looks like 4x races at Port Pirie and 4x races at Mt Gambier. Maybe because of horse population can't have full meetings at those places but Sky/TAB won't run a 4 race meeting?
Thanks for the detective work Brendan, that would make sense and would seem to be good initiative even if it is indicative of an industry in distress
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
This is of course SA's greater woe
Three new committee members quit in protest last week after the club negotiated a $3.5m loan facility at 12% with a Queensland developer, with all of its assets put up as security
I think we all know this QLD developer and harness identity. You would hope that that was a misprint in the paper and should have read 1.2%
AND
Facing deregistration over its dire financial position it has put another property developer into receivership over a $2.5m debt
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...cing/sa-racing
If you go to the SA webpage you will not find a tab for news on the top menu but there is one at the bottom of the page
Is it any wonder that clicking on it shows nothing under News
http://www.saharnessracing.com/site/
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
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