NO FINISH LINE IN SIGHT FOR JOCKEY'S DRUGS CASE

The long-running drug case involving top jockey Lisa Cropp may now be
heading to the Court of Appeal two years after her urine sample was
found to contain amphetamine and methamphetamine.

In a reserved judgment released this week Justice Pamela Andrews
rejected an application for judicial review. The jockey had challenged
the right of racing authorities to conduct drug tests.

The inquiry by racing's Judicial Control Committee (JCA) has been
stalled by a series of challenges to its jurisdiction and the rules
and regulations that govern racing. Cropp has taken two of those
challenges to the High Court at Auckland.

Her challenge to the appointment of one member of the JCA hearing her
case was dismissed in November.

The industry's hearing into her case had been set to resume next
Thursday but may now be in doubt because of Cropp's indication she
will appeal. A telephone conference between lawyers representing the
parties was to be held today.

An option, which Cropp's lawyer, Barry Hart, indicated he was unlikely
to favour, would be for the hearing to continue but for enforcement of
any decision to remain on hold pending the outcome of any Court of
Appeal hearing.

Cropp has continued to ride since her positive drug test and has been
New Zealand's leading rider for the past two years. In her most recent
High Court application, Cropp's lawyers argued that the Racing Act
2003 did not require jockeys to provide routine samples for drug
testing and that doing so breached the Bill of Rights Act 1990.

Justice Andrews said an individual's right had to be balanced against
the legitimate interest of the racing authority to regulate the sport.

Safety was paramount in an environment where jockeys rode 500-600kg
horses travelling at 50-55km/h in close proximity and therefore
curtailed to some extent the individual's rights.

The industry's drug-testing rules were "justified by considerations of
safety and deterrence ... [and] do not any more than is reasonably
necessary ... impair jockeys' rights".

"I am satisfied that there is proportionality between the limit that
the drug-testing rules impose on Ms Cropp's right and the importance
of the objective of the rules."

Mr Hart said he was pleased the judge recognised that the Bill of
Rights applied but would challenge the weight the judge gave it.

Unfolding Case

* May 7, 2005: Lisa Cropp provides a urine sample that was found to
contain traces of amphetamine and methamphetamine.

* August 2005: The Judicial Control Authority begins hearing the case.
The case has since been delayed by a series of challenges by Cropp to
the JCA's authority to hear the case.

* Cropp has now lost her latest High Court challenge regarding her
drug case.

* She has topped the jockeys' premiership the past two seasons and
shares the lead in the current season ending on July 31.