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When he said "Because the horses involved were not racing at the time, I did not realize that what I was doing was against the rules of racing"
How long after administering these substances would they be detectable through testing ? If these substances had been administerd while the horses were wintering in Dubai rather than administered it he UK but were still in the horses system when tested in the UK would the rules still be breached? Are horses automatically tested when moved from one racing jurisdiction to another ? Does it imply that MAZ utilized steroids systematically as part of his training regime and thought this was acceptable practise provided that the drugs were not in the horses system on race day ? Did he think that it would have been acceptable to Godolphin for him to carry out the steroid administration program so long as horses were clear on race day ?
Sheikh Mohammed sadly is tarnished by the actions of one of his trusted employees and in spite of all the investment he had put into racing and equestrian sports people will inevitably question whether there was more he could have done from a controls perspective to prevent this. He is a kind and generous ruler , admired by locals and expats alike in The UAE and beyond and this will be heartbreaking for him. I hope it will not diminish his enthusiasm and love for the sport nor harden his heart in any way. Whilst he will be livid by Zarouni's actions and how the side has been let down I believe Sheikh Mohamed and Godolphin will learn from what has happened and will take action to ensure this is never repeated.
For Mahmood Al Zarouni the consequences are devastating. He will lose a dream job, be branded a cheat and have the stigma to live for the rest of his life . Where does he go from here ? Will Sheikh Mohamed ever be able to offer him some form of forgiveness ? And how do the rest of us feel about it all ?
One of the worries for all of us is how widespread this practise is and the BHA and other racing authorities have got to implement a thorough transparent testing regime to provide confidence that there is a level playing field and that our sport is drug free. To do this will cost money and will need the support of lovers of the sport like Sheikh Mohammed, Heikh Hamdan , Khalid Abdullah et al
How long after administering these substances would they be detectable through testing ? If these substances had been administerd while the horses were wintering in Dubai rather than administered it he UK but were still in the horses system when tested in the UK would the rules still be breached? Are horses automatically tested when moved from one racing jurisdiction to another ? Does it imply that MAZ utilized steroids systematically as part of his training regime and thought this was acceptable practise provided that the drugs were not in the horses system on race day ? Did he think that it would have been acceptable to Godolphin for him to carry out the steroid administration program so long as horses were clear on race day ?
Sheikh Mohammed sadly is tarnished by the actions of one of his trusted employees and in spite of all the investment he had put into racing and equestrian sports people will inevitably question whether there was more he could have done from a controls perspective to prevent this. He is a kind and generous ruler , admired by locals and expats alike in The UAE and beyond and this will be heartbreaking for him. I hope it will not diminish his enthusiasm and love for the sport nor harden his heart in any way. Whilst he will be livid by Zarouni's actions and how the side has been let down I believe Sheikh Mohamed and Godolphin will learn from what has happened and will take action to ensure this is never repeated.
For Mahmood Al Zarouni the consequences are devastating. He will lose a dream job, be branded a cheat and have the stigma to live for the rest of his life . Where does he go from here ? Will Sheikh Mohamed ever be able to offer him some form of forgiveness ? And how do the rest of us feel about it all ?
One of the worries for all of us is how widespread this practise is and the BHA and other racing authorities have got to implement a thorough transparent testing regime to provide confidence that there is a level playing field and that our sport is drug free. To do this will cost money and will need the support of lovers of the sport like Sheikh Mohammed, Heikh Hamdan , Khalid Abdullah et al
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In part of your post I think you are being a tad fawning and naive imo. Also MAZ used the drugs in Dubai where its legal, and he used the drugs over here in March of this year for which the BHA says a 6 month ban for those horses running again to be clear, so I suppose any horses he drugged last winter in Dubai would be clear of the drugs now.
In certain countries its permitted to have steroids in the horses systems just not on race days.
Naiety is thinking that the BHA are on top of all of this. Who's controlling what's being done with horses when they are taken home to their country estates for a break or when they spend up to the end of March in Dubai as many is the practise for the runners of many trainers. The BHA need to be transparent and need to employ uniform checking accross the board . I'd like to see a published list of all horses that have been tested over the past 5 years,where the testing was carried out and what were the results. BHA and other authorities need to get their acts together. Regulation in horse racing is almost as poor as the regulation of the banking industry.
Dont you just hate it when people are "a tad fawning" !!!
So lets get some clarity on the wider implications. Is it Ok to take your horse out of the registered training stable to somewhere thats not within the BHA jurisdiction be it Dubai, Australia, US , or your country estate in Windsor or Devon, give them the "medication" for several months as well as some "unofficial training" , which is not under the eyes of the BHA, stop administering for two or three weeks or whatever length of time it takes so that the "medication" is not detectable before moving them back to registered training yard.
The BHA testing is a smokescreen and to be plausible a proper regime of testing for every single thoroughbred registered to run in UK should be implemented where bloods should be taken under supervision every other week and submitted to a central lab where they can be randomly tested at any time . It would add an extra layer of cost but would create jobs and provide something more tenable than the opinions of panelists of industry 'experts' . Also it's high time that there was proper alignment between the global authorities on this given the public demand to see the best horses from different jurisdictions compete against each other. If nothing else we need to ensure that horses coming from other jurisdictions to race in UK can prove that they have been training without "medications" for several months before they come to run in the UK .
The BHA testing is a smokescreen and to be plausible a proper regime of testing for every single thoroughbred registered to run in UK should be implemented where bloods should be taken under supervision every other week and submitted to a central lab where they can be randomly tested at any time . It would add an extra layer of cost but would create jobs and provide something more tenable than the opinions of panelists of industry 'experts' . Also it's high time that there was proper alignment between the global authorities on this given the public demand to see the best horses from different jurisdictions compete against each other. If nothing else we need to ensure that horses coming from other jurisdictions to race in UK can prove that they have been training without "medications" for several months before they come to run in the UK .
Seems like the BHA may take some real action now regarding horses coming from other jurisdictions ,rather than just a declaration, will be interesting to see what workable solution they come up with or will it all be dropped and forgotten about once the dust has settled.
Seems like the BHA may take some real action now regarding horses coming from other jurisdictions ,rather than just a declaration, will be interesting to see what workable solution they come up with or will it all be dropped and forgotten about once the dust has settled.
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