Weightman had a newly acquired reputation as a trainer who could take on crocks and turn up trumps with them. The previous week, on April 28, Victorian police investigating drug trafficking had raided the Ballarat stables of trainer Rod Weightman. What wasn't widely known was the raids weren't the first with a Kiwi connection. Samples of substances found on the properties were taken away for testing and the racing rumour mill went into overdrive. When they became aware of the police inquiry, they joined forces. Independently, harness racing officials had come by a sample of a new wonder drug known as Blue Magic, a concoction based on propantheline bromide, a banned substance in racing thought to boost cardiovascular performance. I was quite comfortable about it." The police were investigating fraud allegations involving betting and doping.
"It may be the best thing to find a level playing field. Imagine what the owner was thinking." Purdon was more relaxed, accepting that the visit was part of a widespread investigation. "I was talking to a new owner at 11am when they arrived. "I'm quite happy for anyone to have a look around my place, but I object to being treated like a common criminal. "I've nothing to hide," he told the Christchurch Press.
The Butts are known beyond the industry for the exploits of Lyell Creek, the star trotter owned by prodigious gambler Graham Bruton, also known as Steelballs. Racing officials, meanwhile, were visiting three other properties owned by industry giants: David and Catherine Butt, who would go on to win this year's premiership David's cousin Tim and thoroughbred (gallops) trainer Paul Harris. At Weedons, southwest of the city, premiership rival Nigel McGrath was also searched by the police. It was an unseasonably warm day, but Purdon was not the only high-profile trainer feeling the heat. But on this day, May 6, police were more interested in racing's seedy side - betting and illicit drugs. Christchurch, with its Addington raceway, is its internationally regarded heartland and none of the training establishments that dot the city's western fringes are more impressive than Purdon's, built for him by the industry's leading owner, multimillionaire John Seaton. Just a week before, he and wife Vicki had played host to Racing Minister Damien O'Connor, keen to learn from a harness racing luminary about issues affecting a resurgent industry. At 11am, glamour trainer Mark Purdon was startled to see police cars roll up the sealed drive of his state-of-the-art training establishment in Russley Rd, Yaldhurst. By GEOFF CUMMING and PHIL TAYLOR On a stunning autumn day in May, police cars fanned out into the manicured countryside west of Christchurch, cruising the flat, straight roads past magnificent homes, racing stables and the inevitable vineyard.
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