But it was not the first time Lee Callaway, 41, had been shown mercy by the courts.
He had already been discharged without conviction for a family violence incident about six years ago.
Yesterday, history repeated itself after he earlier admitted a charge of assault in a family relationship.
The court heard that on July 13, Callaway and his wife got into an argument, during which she tried to push the defendant out of the house.
The defendant punched the woman in the face.
She was left with severe bruising, which lasted more than a month.
Her self-esteem was shattered and she could not work for some time.
Callaway was also sentenced yesterday for his fifth drink-drive, which occurred on the same day.
The defendant’s lawyer, Philip Ross, explained the racing rules were unclear, but a conviction for violence would put his client’s job as a horse trainer in jeopardy, whereas the drink-driving would not.
A conviction for assault in a family relationship would likely see him at least temporarily banned, Mr Ross said.
Police prosecutor Sophia Thorburn said the assault was not low level and highlighted the victim’s wishes.
‘‘She wants accountability, but the victim doesn’t want him to be punished so severely that it’s going to impact him going forward.’’
Judge Emma Parsons said the offending had stemmed from Callaway’s issues with alcohol.
‘‘The offending was relatively minor and occurred in the context of a heated argument that rapidly descended into physicality.
‘‘It’s unlikely, in my view, that you will offend in this way again if you get assistance with some of the underlying issues that led to this.’’
She decided the consequences of a conviction were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence and discharged Callaway without conviction on the family violence charge, but ordered him to pay $750 emotional harm reparation.
On the drink-driving charge, he was convicted and the judge sentenced him to nine months’ supervision and disqualified him from driving for 13 months.
‘‘You get, normatively, one chance ... this is a situation where you should be given in effect a second chance,’’ the judge said.
Callaway has been in the racing industry for more than 25 years.
His most recent race was last month.
He has won 300 races out of more than 5000 he has competed in.
Callaway had been hauled before the Racing Integrity Board on multiple occasions throughout his career, including in 2024 when he was fined $500 for riding the wrong horse in a race.
