Sydney trainer Con Karakatsanis and his father Tony have been disqualified following the Howmuchdoyouloveme stomach tubing investigation.

Victoria's Racing Appeals and Disciplinary (RAD) board banned Tony Karakatsanis from any involvement in racing for two years after finding him guilty of three charges relating to his attempt to treat Howmuchdoyouloveme on Derby Day on November 3.

Con Karakatsanis was disqualified for nine months for his role in what RAD board chairman Russell Lewis described as a "premeditated joint enterprise".

Both father and son maintain their innocence and intend to seek a retrial before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT).

The board had earlier heard of Tony Karakatsanis's expertise in stomach tubing and of a series of disqualification, suspension and fines for administering prohibited substances to horses he trained.

Among them was a nine-month ban in 2006 for giving a horse a bicarbonate drench.

The case against the pair stemmed from a raid on a stable at Flemington housing Howmuchdoyouloveme hours before he was due to race.

Stewards observed Tony Karakatsanis with the horse in its box where they also found a sack containing tubing equipment they alleged was about to be used.

The stewards told the RAD board Con Karakatsanis's role was to secure the stables to prevent anyone walking in while they were tubing the horse.

In his submission, legal counsel for the stewards, Dr Cliff Pannam, told the board Tony Karakatsanis, who was charged as a registered stablehand, had "a dreadful record in this area".

"There are no mitigating circumstances whatsoever," Dr Pannam said.

Penalty

Opposing counsel Terry Tobin submitted that the board should take into account that the stewards had failed to determine what substance, if any, was to be administered.

Tobin said a fine, therefore, would be an appropriate penalty.

Con and Tony Karakatsanis maintained they had not intended to stomach tube Howmuchdoyouloveme before the race, saying the equipment was present in the box so it could be used to administer a saline drench after the horse competed.

The board agreed, however, with the prosecution case that it did not need to prove what substance was to be administered, only that the horse was to be treated.

The rules of racing prohibit any form of treatment in the 24 hours before a horse races.

Con and Tony Karakatsanis will continue to hold their respective licences under a stay of proceedings until the rehearing of their case, possibly in late February or early March.

AAP