Racing and Wager Western Australia have finally reached the end of a drawn out investigation into a urine sample switching incident dating back to the end of last year.

Andrew Castle and Jarrad Noske were both charged with improper practice after Castle was randomly selected for a drug test in October of 2010 at Ascot but submitted a urine sample that Noske had provided.

Noske had already received his punishment when suspended for six months earlier this year but Castle didn’t show up to the initial inquiry held in February.

Stewards subsequently disqualified Castle until such time as he appeared at the inquiry but agreed to a request he made to have the incident dealt with in his absence.

He pleaded guilty to a breach of the code ARR 175 and stewards weighed up the relevance of his personal circumstances and guilty plea against the seriousness of the offence he had committed.

The result of the inquiry was a 12 month disqualification for Castle which will be backdated to February 7, 2011.

There was no mention of what if any substance Castle was attempting to hide.