Stunning 'jigger' use footage has to lead to lengthy racing ban

And yet there it was this week - Australia's former leading horse trainer Darren Weir on graphic hidden camera footage shocking three racehorses with a jigger at his Warrnambool stables the week before the 2018 Melbourne Cup.

The almost 15-minute video shows Weir giving a tutorial on shocking race horses to stable foreman Jarrod McLean and stablehand Tyson Kermond.

Weir knew exactly what speeds he wanted set on the treadmill, after exactly how much distance to apply the electronic device, how to best apply the jigger and when he wanted the horses hit with a polythene pipe.

Weir was charged by stewards with 10 breaches of Australian Rules of Racing.

He pleaded guilty to seven charges, but not guilty to three counts relating to corruption.

The pre-trainer has a significant chance of avoiding the corruption charges.

But, the bottom line remains - Weir used an electronic device in training to shock horses.

It was unarguably cruel.

It's highly unlikely the video will ever be made public.

How long will Weir will be disqualified for? A guess is seven to 10 years.

He has already served a four-year ban after a jigger was found at his Ballarat stables in a raid on January 30, 2019.

There are a number of striking features of the case.

Why have the stewards gone so hard with charges that will be at best difficult to prove ?

Weir finished serving his four-year ban in February last year.

He's since established a state-of-the-art, multi-million-dollar pre-training complex.

Owners have sent their young horses to Weir in droves, before those potential champions head to the best trainers in Australia.

But if disqualified, Weir's hands-on involvement - even in pre-training - is over.

His chances of ever obtaining a racing licence also hinge on which cases are proven - corruption charges could effectively be a life ban.

But, it's been argued the corruption charges were established for a different purpose, aimed at trainers fixing races by substituting horses or bribing jockeys.

Racing Victoria tribunal chairman John Bowman also caused a few raised eyebrows when he foreshadowed possible verdicts in the coming weeks.

It's a short time frame for such complex legal matters that involved three barristers - two king's counsels and a highly experienced orator.

Weir, McLean and Kermond also declined to give evidence - it is pretty impossible to explain jabbing horses with a jigger.

But, Weir gave an explanation in two interviews with stewards last year.

Japanese bred Tosen Basil was a $2.5 million buy, looked like it had lost by at least five lengths and Weir said it "wasn't a good look".

Melbourne Cup contender Red Cardinal had an operation and had come back below his best and fan favourite Yogi needed to win the Lexus Stakes on the coming Saturday to get into the 2018 Cup.

Weir told stewards the horses were under-performing and he devised the shock treatment training scheme to turn around their form.

He said he had never at any other time used a jigger on a horse.

The other thing against Weir is an extensive record of interactions with stewards over the years - he has been involved in 15 prior cases.

So while this is another step in the racing career of Darren Weir, it's certainly not the last.