Watch: The secret police footage that brought down Darren Weir

Secret police footage showing disqualified trainer Darren Weir shocking three of his horses with a jigger while they were running on a treadmill has been released to the public for the first time.

The damning video, shot from a hidden camera placed in the rafters of Weir’s Warrnambool stables, led to the trainer being charged with animal cruelty and banned from racing for a total of six years.

He was disqualified for four years by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board in February 2019 after pleading guilty to three industry charges of possessing jiggers and one count of conduct prejudicial to the image of racing.

Then in September 2024, he was banned for another two years by the Victorian Racing Tribunal after pleading guilty to three Racing Victoria charges of using jiggers, three charges of animal cruelty and one charge of improper and dishonourable conduct.

Victorian Racing Tribunal chairman Peter Reardon ruled to release the footage on Friday after applications were made for its release in the public interest by Nine, publisher of this masthead, and the Herald Sun.

Reardon said the Weir case relied significantly on the footage that was played in open court and in the tribunal.

“The accessibility for the public through the media to view the footage would assist the public to fully understand and see for themselves what actions were taken by the respondents for the use of jiggers, as they were called, upon the horses,” he said.

Weir was contacted for comment.

The film shows Weir standing on a platform at the side of the treadmill in October 2018 – a week before the Melbourne Cup – alongside his then-assistant trainer, Jarrod McLean, and then-stable hand Tyson Kermond.

The 2015 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer is seen fiddling with the control panels of the treadmill to start the horses running. He then leans back and places his left hand on a steel rail for support.

Weir is wearing jeans, a dark polo top and a dark baseball cap.

When the machine gathers sufficient speed, the camera films Weir casually placing his left hand in his jeans pocket to retrieve a jigger, a small battery-powered device about the size of a cigarette packet.

He then reaches forward, places the jigger’s electrodes on the back of the galloping horse and pushes the button to deliver a shock.

He zaps three Melbourne Cup hopefuls – Red Cardinal, Yogi and Tosen Basil – a total of 25 times.

As he delivers the series of electric shocks, Weir checks the speed of the machine, while McLean occasionally taps the galloping horse on the rump with a piece of plastic poly pipe.

Kermond helps Weir fit headgear onto each animal, called blinkers, as they are led onto the treadmill. He also helps Weir remove the blinkers when they are finished.

Racing Victoria stewards alleged that the use of blinkers during a race as well as hitting the horse on the rump with a whip – replicating the poly pipe – were “contextual cues” that would make a horse run faster because it feared it was going to be shocked.

When the training session is complete, the film shows the treadmill slowing to a stop and the horses being backed out and walked calmly to their barns. They do not buck, nor squeal. The process takes a matter of minutes.

The Victorian Racing Tribunal heard that Weir used the jigger seven times on Red Cardinal and nine times each on Tosen Basil and Yogi.

Only Red Cardinal ran in that year’s Melbourne Cup, finishing second last, more than 60 lengths behind the winner, Cross Counter. Tosen Basil never raced again, while Yogi finished seventh in the Lexus Stakes and did not qualify to run in the Cup.

Racing Victoria stewards accused McLean and Kermond of acting as lookouts during the jigger operation, knowing their conduct was prohibited and the “arrangement was to keep it secret from others”.

All three men were disqualified.

Weir told stewards he had “no idea what I was doing” when filmed shocking his horses on the treadmill.

“Like, it’s something that I wish I hadn’t done for sure. I was trying to get these horses to improve,” he said.

“I knew I was breaking the rules, I knew that, and it was a terrible decision. I understand all that, 100 per cent, but I was just trying to get them to run to the best of their ability.”

Stewards asked Weir if he would have continued the shock treatment if his horses had performed well.

“The main thing was, I wasn’t happy doing it and was very uncomfortable, so that was the main reason that I stopped because I just didn’t – I wasn’t comfortable doing it, and it makes me sick when I watch the film,” Weir said. “I’m glad they didn’t run well. So the decision was very easy.”

Three months after the film was shot, police and Racing Victoria stewards raided Weir’s Ballarat stables. Four jiggers were found in his nearby house.

He was disqualified for four years in January 2019, while McLean and Kermond were suspended for three years and two months in October 2019.

Police initially denied the existence of the video, but it was shown as evidence in the Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court in December 2022.

Weir was found guilty of animal cruelty by the court and fined $36,000 but avoided a criminal conviction.

Police then handed the 15-minute clip to Racing Victoria stewards who would view the contents, interview Weir and lay new industry charges.

Weir was disqualified for a further two years by the Victorian Racing Tribunal in September 2024. McLean was disqualified for nine months, while Kermond was disqualified for three months.

Victorian Racing Tribunal chairman Judge John Bowman said Weir would now be remembered for his association with “instruments of cruelty”.

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