HAIR RACING
Trainer fined £1,500 after greyhound tests positive for hair loss drug Regaine
A GREYHOUND rated a 7-1 outsider won a race by such a huge margin it was tested for drugs – and proved positive for hair restorer Regaine.
The £20 baldness cure boasts results “may become clinically visible in eight weeks” – but Dinnington Lady took only 45.41 seconds to hare round the 415-yard track.
Shocked bookies queried the win and trainer Derek Ogden saw his beloved dog taken off for checks.
Expert drug testers found minoxidil – the active ingredient of Regaine – and traces of diclofenac, used in Voltarol pain relief gel.
Derek was fined £1,500 and severely reprimanded by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, which ruled he gave the drugs deliberately to enhance Dinnington Lady’s performance.
But Derek claims the hair cure must have got there by cross-contamination after he used it to treat a bald patch on another of his dogs.
And – showing a bandage on his knee – he claimed the painkiller may have accidentally mixed in with the dog’s mince when he fed her after applying the gel for his own pain relief.
Fighting back tears, he insisted: “I never gave her anything. She’s a great dog – they stitched me up just because I’m good at training dogs. I used the Regaine on one of my other dogs, Champ, to get the hair back on his legs.
“It may have been passed over to Lady because they share a basket and are always close to each other.
“The other stuff – the Voltarol – I put on my knee for joint pain.
“I mix their raw mince with my hands every morning and I must have done it after putting the cream on.”
Greyhound bosses have cracked down on doping since a report showed owners were using class A drugs cocaine and amphetamine as well as prescription drugs to make dogs quicker.
The sport is big business with punters betting around £2.5billion a year on UK greyhound races.
The Greyhound Board’s report on the race at Crayford, south east London, in February, said minoxidil “has a stimulating effect on the heart and can therefore affect a greyhound’s performance.”
It warned that the drug is known to have toxic effects on dogs.
It said it “rejected Mr Ogden’s claim that the positive findings were due to inadvertent cross-contamination”.
And it declared that “on the balance of probabilities, both substances were deliberately administered to influence performance”.
Even track boss Danny Rayment told investigators the dog “ran above expectation” despite it being her first race at a new stadium.
Two months later Dinnington Lady won the Performance of the Month Award at Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield.
Derek – who named the dog after his home village of Dinnington, Tyne and Wear – said he is so fed up he is quitting the sport. “I was really upset when they found me guilty and fined me,” he said. “It was a witch hunt. They didn’t accept anything. I’m not part of their clique.
“There’s no way those things can make a dog run faster. It’s just daft. They’re not prescription drugs.
“They fined me over £2,000 which I’m paying at £100 a month.
“The fine is a bit much, I’m only on a pension and it’s tough.
“I’ve given up my licence. I’m done with it. I don’t want any more trouble.
“I just don’t want anything to do with it any more.”
But we can reveal Dinnington Lady had tested positive for drugs earlier.
Last September traces of the banned antacid ranitidine – found in tablets like Zantac – were discovered after a race in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Derek claimed poor security at the course could have let “an unknown third party” administer the drug, but was fined £750 and reprimanded.
And it has emerged that Derek’s training licence was revoked after he refused to provide urine samples from Dinnington Lady after she won a race in Harlow, Essex, in May.
Punters who made money on Dinnington Lady will not lose their winnings.
And the hair-raising victory still counts on her official record.
I used Regaine on my other dog to get hair back on his legs and they share a basket DEREK OGDEN TRAINER ACCUSED OF DOPING DOG WITH HAIR RESTORER