Racing’s ruling body has moved to explain the background to events at Ascot on Champions Day, when four trainers were called before the stewards to explain various contraventions of the sport’s drug rules. The trainers’ staff had been found to possess substances which were either not allowed in the racecourse stables or for which permission was required but had not been granted.
The offences, while warranting low-level penalties, caused some consternation on social media, in light of four cases arising from such a prestigious card. But a BHA official expressed surprise at the degree of interest, pointed to other cases this year which have gone almost unreported and denied any suggestion that there might have been a change in BHA policy aimed at shocking trainers on a high-profile day.
“The checking of bags in the stables is fairly routine,” said the BHA’s Robin Mounsey, “and a logical way of checking that prohibited substances aren’t present on raceday. There have been other cases this year which have not attracted as much attention and can be found on the BHA’s website.
“The substances involved at Ascot are very innocuous, being electrolytes and a gastric ulcer treatment, but it is right that we should follow up on these things when they are discovered.”
Two visiting French trainers, Jean-Claude Rouget and Francois Rohaut, were among those hauled before the stewards. Hugo Palmer and James Fanshawe were the others. The runners trained by all four, including the Champion Stakes winner, Almanzor, were “routine tested” and the cases referred on to the BHA for a final verdict.
Palmer shouldered responsibility for his involvement which, he said, was the result of his team having to manage runners at Maisons-Laffitte, Keeneland, Ascot, Newcastle, Redcar and Wolverhampton within a 36-hour period. “Our kit was at a stretch and, when the Ascot kit was prepared, an old box was grabbed which still had some detritus in the bottom and new kit on top.
“Unfortunately that detritus included an out-of-date packet of very routine antibiotics and very routine electrolyte paste. We would keep these things routinely in the horsebox but not in the racecourse stables. Horses can sometimes be given electrolytes on the way home if we feel they had a very hard race or, if they sustain a cut in a race, we might seek permission to administer antibiotics on the site.
“Both were very old and out of date. They were not there with the intention of being used. No one knew they were there. But I accept we’ve broken the letter of the law and will be fined. We’re putting procedures in place at home to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“But I do think there is a wider point and the question needs to be asked, why the BHA feel it’s appropriate to go through a massive spot check of every trainer’s bags on racing’s biggest day, as if they were looking to make an example of people.
“I just wish they would take their finger off the self-destruct button, after the whip issue ahead of the first Champions Day.” Palmer was referring to the lasting controversy that arose in 2011 when the BHA ramped up punishments for whip-related infractions days before the Ascot fixture, only to soften those punishments some weeks later.
Mounsey noted that previous cases could be found on the BHA’s online database by searching for Rule (C)33. They include cases involving the trainers Gay Kelleway and John Ryan that were referred to the BHA, for which the resolutions do not seem to have been made public yet.
It appears that Mille Et Mille, trained in France by Christophe Lerner, was allowed to take part in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, finishing fourth at 33-1, after it was found that Lerner had “administered an allowable substance in the racecourse stables without the permission of the veterinary officer”. Lerner was fined £290 and the horse was tested.