2023 Group 1 Adelaide Cup sensation as winning connections probed
There may be far-reaching consequences following a sensational fallout from the 2023 Adelaide Cup held last Friday night, October 6, 2023.
Transponder led almost all the way from box one to give Victorian greyhound trainer, Jason Thompson, his fifth Adelaide Cup title.
Owned by Amanda Tullio, Transponder made it 20 wins and 12 placings from 37 starts, with $289,715 in prizemoney earned, including the $100,000 Adelaide Cup first prize.
In the aftermath of Transponder's 2023 Adelaide Cup win, Vince Tullio spoke freely with Newscorp's David Brasch saying that he “educated Transponder early for Thompson”.
“He broke in quick and has always been special,” Tullio went on to say.
“I did a bit of work with him before he went to Jason, who loves to make sure they are the right quality he wants,” said Tullio.
But alarm bells really started ringing when Tullio added, “Jason and I set this plan in motion five weeks ago to take Transponder to Angle Park rather than the Million Dollar Chase”.
Brasch went on to report that “Vince took Transponder to Angle Park while Jason and son Luke were in Germany on a golfing trip”.
Vince Tullio is not a registered greyhound participant; he should therefore not be in charge of educating, training, or trialing greyhounds.
He was the subject of three Victorian Racing Tribunal hearings in March 2021, October 2021, and February 2023.
Tullio received a two-year disqualification from the two 2021 hearings and a further eight-month disqualification from the 2023 hearing.
The terms were to be served cumulatively.
While there was some media reporting that Tullio would follow through with a Victorian Supreme Court appeal over the penalties, there is no record of those appeals having ever been pursued.
Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) has confirmed that “Mr. Tullio is not a registered greyhound participant with GRV”.
GRV has also confirmed that “the matters arising from the Adelaide Cup event have been referred to the GRV Integrity Unit for assessment”.
While the outcome of the Integrity Unit assessment will not be known for some time, conjecture will remain about whether Transponder should be allowed to retain the Group 1 race if an unregistered person has contributed to the dog's success in the race.