Melbourne Cup winner Darren Weir pleads guilty to animal abuse, shocking horses

Darren Weir, Jarrod McLean and stable hand Tyson Kermond pleaded guilty to three counts of animal abuse. They used jiggers, poly piping and blinkers on the horses to simulate whipping during training exercises on a treadmill. The abuse charges relate to an illegal training program the three men used on racehorses Red Cardinal, Yogi and Tosen Basil in the weeks before the 2018 Melbourne Cup. Weir won the Melbourne Cups in 2015 and 2016. He was banned from horse racing for four years in 2019.