A RACE horse owner is seeking $1.35 million in potential loss of winnings from a trainer who treated his horse with steroids that led to it being disqualified for 40 days.
Businessman and international investor Wang Sam Lin, 57, claims trainer Steven Burridge, 54, arranged for the injection without his consent on the day he was sacked.
Mr Burridge is defending his actions, saying the horse was in bad shape and he was duty-bound as a trainer to care for it.
Dr Wang, a Singapore permanent resident from Tonga, is claiming $1.35 million - the amount of potential winnings he lost when his horse was barred for 40 days. Races it missed out on included the Singapore Gold Cup Race, the Committee Prize Race and the Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Race.
The horse, named 'King and King', had performed badly in a race on Oct 28, 2007, coming in second last in the Raffles Gold Cup race in Singapore.
The next afternoon, Dr Wang told Mr Burridge he was getting a new trainer but he was not told by the sacked trainer then that his horse needed any treatment.
Less than an hour later, Mr Burridge allegedly asked veterinarian Dr Mathias Muurlink to give a steroid injection to the horse.
Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
