By: Barry Lichter

Racing industry leaders are downplaying the possible repercussions of revelations that four horses were drugged with pain-killing phenylbutazone at a trial meeting, believing it to be an isolated case.

But the Racing Integrity Unit has nevertheless warned unscrupulous trainers that it is ramping up its testing at trials, a crucial shop window for the industry where winners are regularly sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Concern over the integrity of trials was sparked after Cambridge trainer Brett McDonald was charged this week for presenting four horses with bute in their system at the December 9 trial meeting at Ruakaka.

The drug, which is illegal at trials and on raceday, was found after post-mortem samples were taken from McDonald’s horse which broke both its front legs and crashed, leaving apprentice Christopher Dell in a coma for nine days.

RIU general manager Mike Godber said while drug testing at trials had not been a high priority, trainers should now expect to be tested. The first evidence of that was seen at Avondale on Tuesday when 15 horses were tested.

“Every now and then we’ve turned up at trials but our testing hasn’t unearthed a lot of positives, only one in the last 18 months,” Godber said. “Had we picked up a higher proportion we would have reacted to that.”

In the last case, at the Otaki trials in March 2013, Susan Thompson-Brown was fined $2000 after her unnamed two-year-old, who ran last, tested positive to bute, thought to have been given by mistake in a mixed-up feed.

During that case RIU investigator Bob Bevege told the JCA committee drug testing was rarely done at trials but the RIU had some concerns about the rogue behaviour of horses on raceday with the same horses being compliant when sent back to the trials.

“In any business there are limited resources but this case

[McDonald] will create more emphasis on trials.”

Godber said the industry was putting a lot of resources into keeping the industry clean of drugs.

It spent $1.1 million annually on drug testing at the racing laboratory and another $1.5 million to cover the cost of vets and swabbing staff collecting and sending samples from over 1050 race meetings

The thoroughbred code had budgeted for 4350 samples to be taken this season, 3200 of the 9000 taken on raceday, and 800 of the 3500 bicarbonate tests taken.

Out of competition testing which previously accounted for only 150 to 200 samples, had been boosted to 700 this season, 350 in gallops. That testing comprised testing at trials as well as individual targeted visits to racing stables.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Greg Purcell said the industry was completely committed to the rule of trainers presenting horses free of drugs to protect the integrity of the racing and export industry.

“New Zealand is a trading nation and our industry is underpinned to a substantial extent by exports to Hong Kong and Singapore.”

Rather than the McDonald case damaging New Zealand’s reputation, Purcell said the RIU’s response to intensify testing should give potential buyers even more confidence that the industry was well-policed.

While the amount of out-of-competition testing had been increased, NZTR had to be guided by the RIU on where the money was best spent, he said.

New Zealand Trainers’ Association national president Tony Pike said he hoped the McDonald case was an isolated one.

But Pike said he was more concerned about the threat to the safety of jockeys riding drugged horses at trials rather than the potential to lose sales overseas.

“Horses are blood-tested and thoroughly vetted before they go overseas and I’d be disappointed if there were a lot on bute. But you have to remember bute doesn’t make them go faster, it only masks pain. If a horse is slow, it’s still slow on bute.”

Pike said he hoped the McDonald revelations would prompt the RIU to look more closely at trials but he appreciated it still had to work within a budget