Robert Smerdon, from a regal Victorian racing family and blessed in the art of horsemanship, rose through the training ranks in a career spanning 40 years. The prominent horse trainer was banned for life and fined $90,000 for the "systematic doping" of more than 100 race horses over a seven year period berween 2010 - 2017. It is considered one of the biggest scandals to hit Australian racing in years. Racing Victoria described the scheme as the darkest chapter in Australian racing and asked Victoria's Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board to fine him $100,000. Five horse trainers including Smerdon and three stablehands were handed bans at the hearing. Stablehands Greg and Denise Nelligan were also banned for life. Trainers Stuart Webb, Tony Vasil, Trent Pennuto and Liam Birchley, and stablehand Daniel Garland received bans of between one and four years. Together, they faced 271 charges.

Leading trainer Robert Smerdon was a "driving force" behind the scheme; administered "top-ups" and provided instructions. The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board (RAD) called Gregory Nelligan the "architect" and chief administer, who injected "almost always" on race days. Nelligan's wife Denise Nelligan confessed but later tried to backtrack, RAD said. She relayed instructions and administered "top-ups". Trainer Tony Vasil was found guilty of requesting "top-ups" for his horses on race days via text message. Trainer Stuart Webb was also implicated in text messages, advising and asking for "top-ups" to be given.

A driver at the stable, Daniel Garland, was found guilty of being complicit in the cover up and administering to horses

Licensed trainer Trent Pennuto was acting as a foreman at the time and requested "top-ups" for horses under his care

Registered as a visiting trainer, Liam Birchley worked for Aquanita and also independently. He requested "top-ups" for his horses.

All eight were, to varying degrees, involved in a plan to insert sodium bicarbonate and tripart paste into horses on race day by way of "top-ups" so as to gain what was thought to be an unfair advantage. Stewards allegedly caught Nelligan administering a substance to the Smerdon-trained Lovani, who was then withdrawn from a race at Flemington on October 2017. The inquiry was shown a video of stewards confronting Nelligan after he removed a yellow bag from under his jacket, took out a syringe and put it into Lovani’s mouth. It was a brazen plan that the accused had been executing over the years and then bragging about cheating when horses were successful. Much of the stewards’ case was based on 7 years of texts on Nelligan’s phone. The texts include references to the Melbourne Cup, although details about the horses concerned were not revealed

Following its decision to disqualify 72 horses embroiled in the Aquanita scandal, the peak body has a “genuine desire” to claw back prizemoney paid to the implicated former trainers, including Smerdon, with early estimates suggesting his runners alone raked in about $1 million in prizemoney. Trainers are entitled to 10 per cent of any prizemoney their horses win.

Smerdon was also at the centre of the Damien Oliver race fixing scandal. The Oliver betting scandal rocked the spring carnival after the top jockey pleaded guilty to having a $10,000 bet on a rival horse in a race at Moonee Valley in October, 2010. Smerdon was said to have passed on a payment to Ollie, made by Mark Hunter. Smerdon was a minor player but had adopted an unacceptable "see no evil" attitude to handing over the money. Robert Smerdon was fined $10,000 at the time for his part in passing on wads of cash to Oliver, which found him guilty of conduct prejudicial to the image, interests or welfare of racing.

The group led by Smerdon engaged in "systematic cheating" in relation to 100 horses over a seven-year period