Former trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has been suspended for 8-years by the UK's British Horseracing Authority's (BHA) disciplinary panel after being found guilty of administering anabolic steroids to horses at Godolphin's Moulton Stables, reports racingpost.com. As a result, "15 horses have been suspended from racing for six months as it emerged that Al Zarooni administered the banned substances with two foremen and a vet's assistant." Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford, speaking on behalf of Al Zarooni, issued an apology "to Sheikh Mohammed, all at Godolphin and fans of British racing". Australian-born BHA chief executive Paul Bittar commented in a press release: "The panel has determined that the drugs were administered on Al Zarooni's instructions. This case has shown there is no place for performance-enhancing drugs in our sport and we have a robust testing system." Bittar praised the cooperation by Godolphin's head Sheikh Mohammed to ensure a "rapid resolution" to the saga which has the potential to tarnish British racing's reputation. Australian racing luminary, Richard Freedman, commented on Twitter:
"Under current Australian racing policies regarding non-raceday steroid testing, Al Zarooni would not have been charged."
Racing NSW Chief Steward Ray Murrihy responded to the news by calling for a debate on the use of Anobolic Steriods in Australian Racing. WITH SOURCE: Breedingracing.com
In India, three leading trainers “have been banned as the steroids scandal that has rocked Indian racing involving a Classic winner finally drew to a close in Mumbai” reported racingpost.com.
However the “controversy rages on after Sheraz Sunderji, Cooji Katrak and master trainer Pesi Shroff received what was seen in some quarters as lenient penalties for their transgressions”. The Sunderji-trained Indian 2000 Guineas winner Ocean And Beyond was disqualified “after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone (also known by trade names Equipoise & Ganabol) at the Mumbai winter meeting run by the Royal West India Turf Club”. Traces of the banned substance were also found in post-race tests on 2000 Guineas runner-up Star Future (Katrak) and Eloise (Shroff) who was 3rd in the Indian 1000 Guineas; both horses were also disqualified. The trainers at the centre of the affair were found guilty merely for their “vicarious liabilities” according to medication rules: Katrak was suspended for 120-days; Shroff was suspended for 30-days; and Sunderji (found guilty once before in his career) was suspended for 45-days. RWITC chairman Vivek Jain issued a statement “seemingly in anticipation over the relatively soft punishments in a scandal that has garnered widespread publicity in India”. He claimed: “We have adhered to the rule book & past precedents. There was no clear evidence to question the trainers' intent of administrating the banned substance, but there is a clause of ‘vicarious liability' under which the sentences have been handed out.” Boldenone (the substance at the centre of the scandal) is a banned steroid “that could be used to build up muscle and stand more rigorous training”. racingpost.com noted: “Not only were the 3 horses concerned among the best in India, they were trained by 3 of the nation's most successful trainers.”
According to Indiarace.com, the trainers “maintained that the feed procured from the RWITC had been contaminated with the drug in question”. However stewards countered “by saying the same feed was given to about 200 horses and the remainder had all tested clean”. Run under the auspices of the Royal Western India Turf Club, the Mumbai Classics are India's senior races - in effect the national Classics. Via breedingracing.com.
11 July 2011: Prominent UK trainer Howard Johnson appeared at a British Horseracing Board inquiry overnight “to answer serious charges that carry a potentially lengthy ban from the sport” reported racingpost.com. The trainer “is accused of running Striking Action 8 times after the 9YO had undergone a palmar neurectomy - the surgical removal or severing of all or part of the palmar digital nerves; the process, known as 'de-nerving', causes the horse to lose sensation in the back of its foot”. Johnson (who claims he was unaware horses on whom the operation had been performed were banned from racing on welfare grounds, as well as compromising jockey safety) “is also accused of administering steroids to 3 other horses in his care”. Johnson “could be disqualified for a period of 10 years if found guilty of wilful cruelty”. He commented: “I am not guilty because I asked the vet whether Striking Action could run after the operation and I was told he could. And as for the steroid job, it wasn't enough to give a cat.”
"...after being found in breach of the sport's welfare rules. Three years of the ban were imposed in respect of his having raced a horse eight times after it had undergone a denerving operation that left it with impaired sensation in a lower limb, while the fourth year will be his punishment for administering steroids to other horses."
