By Usman Rangeela
Although there has been a significant drop in manipulation of races in the last two-three years in Western India, what’s disturbing the Royal Western India Turf Club authorities is the sudden and alarming rise in horses testing positive for various banned drug substances.
Two horses tested positive towards the fag end of the previous stewards’ body’s term and when the recently appointed set of stewards were about to take charge, another horse failed the drug test. Subsequently, last week, boldenone was detected in the urine-sample of an unraced and unnamed horse.
What has foxed the trainers’ fraternity in Western India and set off alarm bells within the RWITC administration is the fact that traces of O-desmethylvenlafaxine – a drug probably not heard of at least in Mumbai/Pune until now – were found in the post-race urine samples of Pesi Shroff trained Maisha and Mansingh Jadhav schooled Mohegun Sun and Burgundy Rose. What skews the situation further is trainer Arif Patel’s unnamed ward reporting positive for an anabolic steroid when randomly sampled.
Since no logical conclusion was ever reached in the controversial boldenone incidents that rocked RWITC in the recent past, the current administration is obviously treading cautiously on this tricky turf. Yet, the authorities, it’s learnt, are doing all that is possible to unravel the mystery behind the four horses failing the drug test.
As Burgundy Rose tested positive in a follow-up sampling procedure, it’s scary even to imagine whether more such reports are in the pipeline.
Clearly these are testing times for horse-racing and the RWITC authorities in particular.
Disturbing variance
While the club officials will have to wait till the confirmatory sample results arrive and the professionals submit any mitigating circumstances for the presence of the drug, it’s imperative that they launch a parallel investigation to get a grip on the situation.
Intriguingly, till a year ago the primary urine samples were being sent to a gulf-based laboratory whose score on positive reports was negligible. RWITC has now entrusted the drug detection responsibility to Hong Kong Jockey Club’s laboratory, from where a spate of positives have originated.
The credentials of the HKJC’s lab are impeccable but RWITC needs to probe whether their drugtesting techniques are in sync with world standards.
For, in the not-too-distant past, three urines samples of horses, which placed in the Indian classics, were declared positive for boldenone by the Newmarket-based Horseracing Forensic Laboratory. In the wake of allegations that these findings were due to feed contamination, RWITC sent nearly 200 random samples to UAE but, strangely, all tested negative.
So, vigilance demands that HKJC’s drug-testing protocols are verified.
Keeping pace
Another area of concern might be the procedure adopted to collect urine samples by RWITC’s veterinarians. Sterile bags are used to collect urine samples; but the facility where it’s collected is anything but sterile which can lead to contamination.
It’s difficult to understand why the club’s veterinarians have remained mute spectators instead of raising this crucial issue with the turf club’s administration. Regardless, it’s about time the new committee tackled this problem.
Finally, with advanced laboratories capable of reporting drug substances to the miniscule levels of picograms (0.001 nanogram) today, trainers are possibly being caught on the wrong foot. Some expert advice could ensure that all professionals keep pace with such developments.
