Prominent horse trainer Darren Weir has been arrested along with two other men in relation to an ongoing investigation on sporting integration matters.
Weir, who trained the 2015 Melbourne Cup winning horse Prince of Penzance, was taken in for questioning on Wednesday morning following raids at a number of stables in Victoria, the ABC reports. According to Victoria Police, a 48-year-old Miners Rest man, 38-year-old Yangery man and a 26-year-old Warrambool man are assisting with investigations.
The arrests come after detectives searched stables at Warrnambool and Ballarat and seized a number of items including a gun and what is believed to be a taser.
Police said the men will be interviewed in relation to sporting integrity matters including obtaining financial advantage by deception, engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency, use of corrupt information for betting purposes among other possible criminal charges.
Racing Victoria is yet to confirm that Weir was one of the three men arrested but is currently assisting Victoria Police with the investigation.
“The Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit this morning executed warrants at properties in Warrnambool and Ballarat where they arrested three licensed persons for questioning,” Executive General Manager – Integrity Jamie Stier said in a statement.
“Members of the Racing Victoria Integrity Services team attended licensed stables to assist Victoria Police and to investigate potential offences against the Rules of Racing.
“As the matters are the subject of on-going investigations by Victoria Police and Racing Victoria we are not at liberty at this time to disclose the identities of the persons arrested nor the details of the investigations.”
Weir, who has been in the racing industry since 1995, is known as one of the most successful trainers in the country with hundreds of horses on his books.
He left school at the age of 15 to work under experienced trainers and has since earned himself the Commonwealth training record for the most wins in a season. The 48-year-old first broke this record in the 2015/16 season with 348 wins.
It was during this time that Weir shot into the headlines for his success in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, where he trained the winning horse the Prince of Penzance which was ridden by Michelle Payne.
Five of his horses were due to race at Mornington on Wednesday.