Victoria Police Drop Exclusion Order Bombshell

Victoria Police has sensationally aborted plans to proceed with a ‘Race Course Exclusion Order' against unlicensed breeder-owner Vince Tullio.

The decision comes after Tullio was handed a notice by Victoria Police back in May outlining intentions to prohibit him from “entering or remaining on all Victorian racecourses” in order to “protect the integrity of the racing industry”.

Not under suspension or disqualification, Tullio vowed to fight the proposed move "by any means possible" given "the lack of veracity to the reasons given".

Tullio went on to claim that the proposed move was driven by "other parties" given Tullio's attempts to gain re-registration in the industry.

Had the ‘Exclusion Order' been enforced, it would have deemed Tullio's efforts to be re-registered futile, given he couldn't attend a race course anyway.

READ: Tullio Vows To Fight ‘Shock' Exclusion Order

But on Monday, the matter took another spectacular turn, with Victoria Police officially withdrawing the notice, with a delegate for the Chief Commissioner saying "that after taking in consideration submissions we will not be proceeding with the Exclusion Order". 

Back in 2021, Tullio, whose wife Amanda breeds and races a number of top greyhounds including superstar Explicit, was handed a two-year disqualification for conduct which in Greyhound Racing Victoria's (GRV) opinion was “considered negligent, dishonest, corrupt, fraudulent or improper”.

Tullio took the decision all the way to the Supreme Court where just a week before the matter was to be heard, GRV elected to set aside the decision and absorb a portion of the costs.

The two parties have been on something of a collision course ever since with GRV said to be concerned over Tullio's alleged prior involvement in the sending of greyhounds to China.

The feud escalated earlier this year when Tullio reapplied for a licence in a bid to be able to handle his wife Amanda's greyhounds, in particular at trial sessions.

However that application was rejected by GRV under the "fit and proper person ruling" which is sweeping through all three codes of racing.

Earlier this year, NSW harness racing driver Cameron Fitzpatrick had his licence application rejected by Harness Racing NSW under the same rule despite serving a 12-year disqualification for his part in the "Green Light" harness racing scandal.

However on appeal at the Racing Appeals Tribunal, Fitzpatrick was successful, with the presiding judge acknowledging that the former leading reinsman had served his time and deserved to be re-registered.

Tullio is now following a similar path, currently awaiting a hearing at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

A determination at VCAT is the first step towards potential Supreme Court action, a process that has the capacity to prove costly and exhaustive for all parties. 

When news of the proposed "Exclusion Order" broke earlier this year, Tullio declared his intentions to fight the matter all the way to the Supreme Court, a position that is said to have only intensified following the favourable decision by Victoria Police on Monday.