Racing shock as Classic-winning trainer given suspended 12-month ban after horse tests positive for cocaine
TRAINER Ed Dunlop says a suspended 12-month disqualification after one of his horses tested positive for COCAINE is 'harsh'.
The Classic winner, who trained legendary racehorses like Ouija Board and Snow Fairy, was also fined £1,000 after Lucidity produced a sample which contained a metabolite of the Class A drug at Brighton last year.
The source of the positive test remains unclear and officials at the BHA said they attach no blame to the trainer, but it is believed coke ended up in her system as a result of contamination from a member of stable staff.
And Dunlop, 56, who has trained 39 winners so far this season, said he will now introduce random drug testing of his staff.
He can continue to train and saddle runners from his Newmarket stable, and the disqualification will only be triggered if another horse tests positive over the next 12 months.
During a two-hour disciplinary hearing at BHA HQ in London, the panel were told one of Dunlop's employees had admitted using cocaine twice last year.
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But neither occasion were close to the time four-year-old filly Lucidity finished second on July 4, 2023. The horse has now been disqualified from its race.
Dunlop told Sunracing: "We've had this hanging over us for the past year and it's not been easy, and there is a bit of a stigma attached to these things.
"It feels harsh, though the entry point for a positive test is a two-year disqualification and they've dropped it down a year we are in a position now where if anything happens we will be in trouble.
"I'll be introducing random alcohol and drug testing at my yard, that's not to try and catch people out, it's to try and help them. I think it's something that we should think about bringing in nationwide.
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"Jockey's get six months for cocaine if it's a first offence, so maybe they could look at making the rules a bit more flexible."
His solicitor, Rory Mac Niece, had been pushing for a six-month suspended ban and was shocked at the panel's decision.
He told the Racing Post: "The rules have got to enable appropriate and fair disposal of cases and it seems to me these rules don't.
"What this means is that somebody who has been a rule-taker for 30 years, who has an impeccable record, who clearly adds to the industry, far from being a threat to it, has a sword of Damocles hanging over his head for 12 months. What does that achieve?"
This is not the first time a racehorse has shockingly tested positive for cocaine, with the risk of contamination from people who use the drug quite high.
Two horses tested positive for cocaine in Australia last August, while another star horse Down Under, End Assembly, tested positive just days after winning a £200,000 race.