NEWS: [The Age] - 26/07/2005 "Trainer bemoans Sydney's cocaine 'epidemic'"

Trainer bemoans Sydney's cocaine 'epidemic'
By John Schell
July 26, 2005

Cocaine use has become so widespread in Sydney's eastern suburbs it seems even horses might have been exposed to it.

Sydney's leading thoroughbred trainer, Gai Waterhouse, yesterday declared cocaine use to be an "epidemic I didn't know existed". She was speaking at a Racing NSW stewards' inquiry into how the banned substance found its way into one of her racehorses.

The Waterhouse-trained Love You Honey returned a positive swab to the drug following a race at Gosford on April 25, in which it finished last.

It was yesterday disqualified from that event.

Waterhouse told the stewards that there "was no way" she or any of her staff had administered cocaine to Love You Honey. Waterhouse, the wife of controversial bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse, said she was "terrified" that cocaine use was "so rife in the community".

After Waterhouse employee Roy Storch admitted he had used cocaine twice during his time with the trainer, she went on to describe a pub close to her Randwick stables as "a known drug den".

Storch had visited the pub the night before Love You Honey's Anzac Day race and may have come into contact with cocaine.

"I have never used cocaine other than the two times I have stated," Storch told stewards, naming November 2004 and May 7 as the dates of those two occasions.

Evidence given by veterinarian Craig Suann and analyst Allen Stenhouse indicated it was possible the small amount of cocaine found in Love You Honey's system could have come from human contact with the horse's mucous membranes, and Waterhouse claimed that Storch may have passed on the drug after having inadvertent contact with it at the pub.

Waterhouse said she was "vigilant" in the way she ran her stables. "My security is top class. I've never been in this situation before," she said.

The inquiry was adjourned until Friday, with stewards wanting to review extra evidence tendered by Waterhouse's legal representative, Clive Jeffreys, which revealed that two other Waterhouse staff, from 80 interviewed, had admitted to using cocaine.

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Racing's cocaine bombshell
By Christian Nicolussi
July 26, 2005

RACING'S First Lady Gai Waterhouse said yesterday cocaine use had reached epidemic proportions, after her staff were implicated in a drugs inquiry.

Waterhouse made the startling claim before Racing NSW officials in a bid to distance herself from a cocaine scandal that has rocked her stable.

The leading trainer said use of the drug in society had reached "terrifying" proportions.

"You only have to go to any hotel in Australia, or even now, if we were to pull out money from our wallets there's a chance there would be traces of cocaine," Waterhouse told the inquiry. "It's like the common cold, that's how easy a horse or person can be contaminated."

The stewards' hearing was yesterday told her runner Love You Honey had tested positive to the prohibited substance after a race at Gosford on Anzac Day.

The trainer said she had since questioned the bulk of her staff, with three employees admitting to having used the party drug in the past.

One of those employees, stablehand Roy Storch, joined Waterhouse at yesterday's hearing.

The trainer maintained Storch was not to blame and it was likely he had unknowingly come into contact with cocaine at his local pub.

Waterhouse told the inquiry she had a strict drug policy at her stables, before making her feelings clear about the "terrifying" drug problems facing modern-day society.
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"My belief is cocaine has reached epidemic proportions," Waterhouse said.

She read a prepared statement to stewards about the security she had in place before questioning Storch about his whereabouts in the 24 hours leading up to Love you Honey's race.

Storch said he had enjoyed a few drinks at the Regent Hotel, Kingsford, where it was "common knowledge" cocaine was used.

"The Regent Hotel is a den of iniquity, it's a drug bin," Waterhouse said. "Ron goes there for a few beers and to listen to music and all he had to do was to go into the bathroom and touch a door handle.

"I have two kids, who don't do drugs, but they've said it's in every nightclub. It's terrifying. They say there are people snorting left, right and centre. It's a real epidemic."

A spokesman for the Regent Hotel last night vehemently denied suggestions cocaine or other illicit drugs were used on the premises.

He said police and dogs from the drug squad regularly inspected the hotel and no evidence of any drug had been found.

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crow011 said:

epidemic compared to what? . . . tasmania? . . .

fuck, you want a drug epidemic, look at USA . . .

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Crack down on drug use
By Ray Thomas and Gemma Jones
July 27, 2005

RANDOM drug-testing of jockeys, track riders and stablehands is to increase following the controversial Love You Honey cocaine affair.

The blitz comes amid revelations 14 New South Wales stablehands have been suspended for illegal drug use.

A day after high-profile trainer Gai Waterhouse claimed cocaine use had reached "terrifying" proportions, a recommendation was made to the Australian Racing Board to give stewards authority to drug test racing industry workers more frequently.

Police have appealed for Mrs Waterhouse to give them any information she has about alleged drug use.

Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy dismissed suggestions the racing industry was not doing enough stamp out illicit drug use in the industry.

"Currently there are 14 registered stablehands who are suspended or disqualified (on drug-related matters)," he said.

Racing NSW stewards are conducting an inquiry into the cause of a positive swab to cocaine taken from the Waterhouse-trained Love You Honey after it competed at Wyong on April 25.

An employee of Mrs Waterhouse's, stablehand Roy Storch, has given evidence before stewards that he is an occasional cocaine user.

Mrs Waterhouse told stewards an internal stable investigation revealed another two of her employees had admitted to using cocaine previously.

She also said her children Kate and Tom told her cocaine use was "epidemic" in every nightclub they visited.

At the launch of the Spring Racing Carnival yesterday Kate Waterhouse would not be drawn on the claims.

Mr Murrihy has asked Racing NSW racecourse inspector Bob Nicholson to take statements from both stable employees.

The chief steward will then decide whether to take further evidence from those employees when the inquiry resumes on Friday.

Mrs Waterhouse will come under more scrutiny from stewards at Randwick today when another inquiry is opened into the riding tactics used on eventual winner Great Time, a significant betting-ring shortener, at Newcastle last Saturday.

After her extraordinary claims on Monday, the police drug squad yesterday denied Sydney was awash with cocaine but asked her to come forward with any information she has about cocaine use.

State Crime Command's drug squad commander, Detective Superintendent David Laidlaw, said cocaine offences made up just 3 per cent of illegal drug use detected each year.

"Sydney is not (awash with cocaine). There are levels of certain drugs within the Sydney area but to say it is awash with cocaine specifically is an exaggeration," he said.

The Daily Telegraph

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