Accused racehorse owner's last words

By PHIL TAYLOR

Multimillionaire racehorse owner John Seaton yesterday became the second person to die suddenly while facing charges arising from investigations into horse doping.

In one of his last conversations, Mr Seaton spoke to Herald racing editor Michael Guerin on Sunday night.

He discussed his embarrassment at being linked to the alleged doping of horses and his belief that he had been poorly treated by an industry to which he had given so much.

And he proclaimed his innocence.

The owner of several champions, Mr Seaton said he was a victim of industry jealousy and told Guerin he would fight "to the absolute limit" to clear his name.

"He told me he was prepared to spend every cent he had, not only to defend himself but to defend Mark [Purdon, his trainer]," Guerin said.

The conversation ended about 9pm. Nine hours later, Mr Seaton's wife, Anne, found him dead in a downstairs room in their mansion on the outskirts of Christchurch.

Police have yet to that confirm Mr Seaton, a Canterbury stock dealer and investor believed to be worth about $37 million, is dead. But they said they had attended the death of a middle-aged man.

"There are no suspicious circumstances and the death has been referred to the coroner," a statement said.

Mr Seaton was charged last week by Harness Racing New Zealand in relation to the alleged doping of his horse Light and Sound.

If found guilty on the three charges, he could have been fined up to $25,000 and banned from racing for life.


Purdon was charged three months ago with doping Light And Sound with Blue Magic, which contains the banned performance-enhancing substance propantheline bromide, in March and April.

Another trainer, Nigel McGrath, and two of his staff were also charged. The proceedings followed a six-month police investigation which resulted in former standardbred trainer Robert Asquith being charged under the Medicines Act with illegally supplying propantheline bromide.

Mr Asquith, 47, died suddenly in July at his home near Oxford in North Canterbury, two days before he was to appear in court.

If found guilty, Mr Asquith would have faced a maximum penalty of six months jail or a $1000 fine.


Racing's Judicial Control Authority found McGrath guilty in August of three charges of administering the drug to horses.

His workers were found guilty of negligence.

The charges against them followed a positive swab returned by a McGrath-trained horse.

But the Purdon-trained Light and Sound was negative to swabs.

The HRNZ charges against Purdon and Mr Seaton are believed to follow a statement Purdon made to Christchurch police in May.

Mr Seaton, one of the most prominent figures in racing, was upset the charges became public in New Zealand Cup week and questioned whether this was calculated.

"Show Weekend and he's on the front page of the paper in Christchurch," Guerin said. "Every single person he knows would have seen that story.

"He said he felt embarrassed, he'd been treated like a criminal when he hadn't done anything wrong."

Mr Seaton questioned why he had been charged when, as an owner rather than a trainer, he was not involved in any hands-on way with the horses.


"He said he was extremely disappointed in the decision by harness racing officials to charge him," Guerin said.

"He said he thought that came back to jealousy because some of the leading officials are also racehorse owners and John felt his enormous success in racing and also his ability to outbid those people at sales had tainted them towards him."

HRNZ general manager Edward Rennell said Mr Seaton was told of the charges on Wednesday and served the papers on Thursday. HRNZ had planned to wait until yesterday to announce the charges.

But Mr Seaton became involved in some heated exchanges with officials at Friday's Show Day meeting at Addington.

"We started fielding inquiries from media and it is our policy to be upfront," Mr Rennell said.


Mr Seaton is understood to have introduced Mr Asquith to Purdon and he told the Herald the night before he died he had met Mr Asquith a couple of times.

Guerin: "He said, 'I knew him, but you can't be guilty just because you know somebody who is involved'."

Mr Seaton sounded more down than usual, speaking of his wife's battle with cancer.

"But he was also defiant - he was going to fight."

The last thing he said to Guerin was that he'd see him this Friday at the last night of the Cup carnival.



How the go-fast drug works


Q: What is Blue Magic?

A: The main ingredient of the drug at the centre of the scandal is propantheline bromide, a prescription medicine which acts as a bronchial dilator, or smooth muscle relaxant. Although its effects are debated, it is believed to enable the airways to stay open, increasing oxygen flow so horses can run faster.

Q: When did the controversy break?

A: In May, Australian police raided a racing stable and seized vials of the newly discovered performance-enhancing drug. About a week later, NZ police and harness racing officials swooped on stables in Canterbury, including those of some of the sport's biggest names.

Q: Did police charge anyone?

A: Former trainer Robert Asquithwas charged under the Medicines Act with selling propantheline bromide. He died suddenly in July, two days before he was due to appear in court. Police said no one else would be charged but passed their evidence to Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ).

Q: What action has HRNZ taken?

A: Trainer Nigel McGrath and two of his workers were found guilty of doping offences after two horses tested positive for the banned substance. Three months ago, champion trainer Mark Purdon was charged with administering the drug to one of his horses, Light and Sound, owned by millionaire Christchurch businessman John Seaton. Last week, HRNZ also charged Mr Seaton with being a party to the offence.

Q: Why is it important?

A: The billion-dollar racing industry needs to maintain confidence in the sport so that punters can be sure racing is fair and that the horses they back are not running against opponents with an unfair edge.