Cocaine kingpin Damion Flower to finally have horse ownership ended
Racing NSW is poised to end convicted drug smuggler Damion Flower’s involvement in horse racing, bringing an end to one of the most explosive chapters in the industry’s history.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Flower has been issued with a charge of conduct prejudicial to the interests of racing, which will mean his ownership in several successful gallopers will finally finish more than three years after being taken into custody.
He is expected to be given a long ban from the racing industry when stewards deliver a penalty.
Flower, one of 12 inaugural slotholders for The Everest, the world’s richest turf race, is serving a maximum jail sentence of 28 years for his role in a cocaine importation ring which ran out of Sydney Airport.
Despite pleading guilty to criminal charges last year and being sentenced in February, Flower has still had an interest in several current racehorses through his Jadeskye banner.
Most notably, Flower has a stake in the Chris Waller-trained Tycoonist, which finished second in a $1 million race during the rich Magic Millions carnival on the Gold Coast in January, and then won the Hawkesbury Rush during the club’s standalone meeting in April.
High-profile racehorse owner Damion Flower.
Flower was one of Australian racing’s most successful owners and built his horse empire off the back of super stallion Snitzel, who he raced as a successful two and three-year-old in 2005 and 2006. He subsequently spent tens of millions dollars at horse sales throughout Australia, chasing his next stallion prospect.
But he was sensationally caught up in a police sting which uncovered shipments of illegal drugs being flown from South Africa to Sydney, where Qantas baggage handler To’Oto’O ‘John’ Mafiti would collect bags hidden in luggage on nine flights between 2016 and 2019.
Police alleged Flower and Maifiti would communicate through coded text messages which referenced football scores and the weight of jockeys, which alerted Maifiti as to which bags he would intercept.
Flower forfeited his position in The Everest despite being the first to express an interest in backing the concept. The race has proven to be a runaway success and has rejuvenated Sydney’s spring racing carnival.
He had been paying $600,000 per year to choose a horse to race in his slot for The Everest, which splits prizemoney between the race’s investors and connections of horses who broker deals to run in the event.
The first two horses he chose to run in the race, Clearly Innocent (eighth) and Viddora (10th), failed to finish in the placings.
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