By: Mark Scully
UAE: Trainer Ismail Mohammed has been fined by stewards in the UAE after the Irish-bred Expert was found to have raced at Jebel Ali with a banned substance in its system.
Trainer Mohammed, who has operated out of Revida Place stables on Hamilton Road in Newmarket since 2012 as well as in Dubai, pleaded guilty to presenting the five-year-old to race on minoxidil, which was discovered following a post-race urine test.
Stewards opted to fine Mohammed AED40,000 (£7,540/€9,600), citing the trainer’s guilty plea and previously blemish-free record in relation to the use of banned substances.
They also noted minoxidil, a vasodilator that aids blood flow to muscles by dilating blood vessels and is used to treat hair loss in humans, is a therapeutic substance by nature.
The formerly Richard Hannon Snr-trained gelding, who last raced in Britain in October 2014 and won two of 17 starts before being switched to Dubai, was also disqualified from the race in question at Jebel Ali on January 8, in which he finished sixth.
Stewards also took action against Mohammed’s fellow trainer Mohammed Al Subouse, who pleaded guilty to presenting a trio of horses to race at Meydan on January 16 with elevated levels of total carbon dioxide in their blood.
Al Subouse was fined AED 100,000 (£18,811/€24,027) with the three horses disqualified from their respective races, in which they all finished outside the places.
