Anthony and Sam Freedman will be sidelined until the end of the month after the Victorian Racing Tribunal imposed 28-day disqualifications for breaches relating to the raceday treatment of two horses. The penalties, which commence at midnight, were significantly lower than the six-month suspensions the training partners had potentially faced after the tribunal found special circumstances existed.

The charges stemmed from an incident at the Cranbourne stable on August 16 last year involving Kira and Moonhaven. Both horses, which had been diagnosed with respiratory issues, were administered therapeutic medication through a nebuliser on raceday.

The tribunal heard the treatment resulted from what was described as a human and administrative error. Although the stable had intended to race both horses at Sandown the following Wednesday, they remained accepted to compete at Caulfield on the day the treatments were administered.

Once the oversight was identified, both horses were scratched from their scheduled engagements.

A significant aspect of the case was that neither Anthony nor Sam Freedman was present when the treatments were administered. That finding formed part of the tribunal's consideration in determining there were special circumstances warranting a substantial reduction in penalty.

In addition to the suspensions, the stable was fined $1,500 for failing to maintain treatment records. The charges were not contested.

Following the tribunal's decision, the Freedmans accepted responsibility for the breach and acknowledged the failure within their operation.

"We take full responsibility for the oversight," the Freedmans said in a statement after the penalty was handed down.

They added that the incident did not reflect the standards they expected within their stable.

"We take pride in our operation's integrity and the strength of our systems, but unfortunately on this occasion there was an inadvertent stable error."

During the suspension period, trainer Clayton Douglas will oversee the Freedman stable's day-to-day operations and manage its horses until Anthony and Sam Freedman are eligible to resume training duties at the conclusion of their bans.

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