A leading greyhound trainer banned for 23 years has mounted an unlikely bid to return to the industry after a former Supreme Court judge questioned the severity of his punishment.
Mark Azzopardi, who had winners in several of the sport’s feature races including the group 1 National Derby, has already served nearly a decade of a suspension that is not due to expire until 2039 after two of his dogs tested positive to prohibited substances.
Mark Azzopardi has ambitions to race greyhounds again.Credit: Steve Whalland Photography
Now he is challenging the weight of the sanctions, arguing his greyhounds’ positive swabs had nothing to do with them gaining an unfair advantage but occurred inadvertently when he was dealing with his own drug addiction.
Azzopardi, who trained at Appin, south-west of Sydney, was disqualified for nine years and nine months in 2016 when one of his runners had amphetamine detected in its system after a race at Richmond. Six months later, Greyhound Racing NSW stewards threw the book at him again, adding 13 years to his suspension, when he didn’t respond to a charge over traces of caffeine in another dog he raced at Bathurst.
He had earlier been rubbed out for two years when a metabolite of cocaine was found in a urine sample of a greyhound he trained following a race at Maitland in 2013 and had a fourth post-race presentation offence on his record.
Azzopardi is contesting the combined ban of almost 23 years and his prospects of having it dramatically downgraded have been boosted after an appearance at the NSW Racing Appeals Tribunal.
Tribunal chair Geoff Bellew SC, a retired Supreme Court judge who also chairs the State Parole Authority and the National Rugby League judiciary, cleared the way for Azzopardi to appeal at a hearing likely to be held in March.
“I have read the decisions in each case,” Bellew said. “It is difficult to determine the basis on which the decision maker(s) reached the conclusions that they did in terms of penalty. It is at least arguable that the penalties are manifestly excessive.”
According to Bellew’s determination, Azzopardi gave evidence that the positive tests did not involve any attempt on his part to deliberately cheat.
He told the tribunal he was embarrassed and ashamed about the offences, that he had not used illicit drugs since 2018 and that after a period living in Ireland and Malta he had returned to Australia “entirely different” and with a clear mind.
He had previously pointed to contamination as the cause of the positive test to cocaine by a dog in his kennel 12 years ago.
Azzopardi won several feature races before his life careered off the rails.Credit: Louise Kennerley
A report from a psychiatrist was also put before Bellew. It stated that Azzopardi suffered from significant depression following the collapse of his marriage in 2012, undermining his decision-making ability, including his motivation and capacity to appeal after he was sidelined. He had a substance abuse disorder between 2012 and 2017, the report said.
Lawyers for Azzopardi argued the penalties were unfair, unjust and crushing, telling the tribunal “the inherently oppressive nature of the penalties is reflected not only in their magnitude, but in the order that they be served cumulatively”.
Now based in Grafton, the trainer had sought to appeal in 2022 but was denied an extension of time he needed to fight his ban so long after it was handed down.
GRNSW told the tribunal that decision should be final and binding and that if Azzopardi’s position was accepted, there would “never be an end” to similar applications years after sanctions were imposed.
“The difficulties with which [Azzopardi] has been beset, whilst deserving of some sympathy, should not be allowed to dilute the importance of ensuring the integrity of greyhound racing,” GRNSW’s legal counsel said.
Disciplinary matters are now overseen by the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC), the independent regulator formed in 2018 following the live baiting scandal, which prompted NSW premier Mike Baird to announce he was shutting the industry down before changing his mind three months later.
