Yorke was issued with a four and a half-month disqualification on Friday for a misconduct charge stemming from an incident with fellow Albury trainer Norm Loy in July.

An inquiry heard that one of Loy's horses, Funky Bella, sustained a number of injuries as a result of a confrontation at Albury on the morning on Saturday, July 31.

Yorke was found to have 'aggressively confront' Loy when the pair become involved in a verbal argument. Loy was contained in a horse walker at the time with Funky Bella and a number of other horses.

It was found that during the confrontation, Funky Bella became very fractious at which stage Yorke 'did forcibly hold shut the gate in a deliberate act to prevent Mr Loy from exiting the horse walker'.

Stewards believed the actions had the potential to cause serious injury to Loy and Funky Bella. Ultimately, Funky Bella did kick out on a number of occasions, resulting in her dislodging the walker gate and sustaining injuries to her near hind leg, including a fracture to the lateral splint bone.

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Yorke pleaded guilty to the charge and was disqualified for four and a half months.

The disqualification comes about a year after he returned from an 18-month disqualification for a cobalt positive swab.

Stewards determined that the appropriate penalty is six months but due to Yorke's guilty plea and cooperation, they decided that a four and a half month disqualification was to commence immediately and expire on January 17.

Yorke was advised the period of disqualification would be deferred to allow him to care for and make arrangements for horses under his care.

A third Albury trainer, Garry Worsnop, was fined $400 for improper conduct.

Worsnop pled guilty to the charge, where it was heard that when giving evidence at the inquiry, he made an 'inappropriate comment' to Yorke.

It comes as Loy himself has decided to appeal a three-month disqualification for a Facebook post about NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Loy has hired experienced Victorian solicitor Damian Sheales for the appeal.

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