TWO SUSPENDED IN DOPING PROBE
Two contract workers at Newcastle have been suspended following a positive dope test on a horse which underperformed at the track last month.
The BHA are investigating why Ladies First, trained by Mick Easterby (below), tested positive for a beta-blocker after finishing eighth of nine runners and more than 20 lengths behind 33-1 winner Alexandrakollantai.
The filly weakened quickly three furlongs from the finish of the Flame Bathrooms Fillies’ Handicap over one mile on September 21, with the jockey informing stewards she had never travelled and hung right.
Ladies First, who was ridden by apprentice Scott McCullagh, had been the 6- 4 favourite on the back of a win at York 12 days earlier.
Arena Racecourse Company, who own and run Newcastle racecourse, said in a brief statement: ‘we are fully co- operating with the BHA’s investigation.’
Easterby’s son and assistant David first revealed that workers at the North East track were under investigation. His 87-year-old father, one of the sport’s longest-serving trainers, had made no secret of his high hopes for Ladies First. Appearing on the Racing UK channel at Ayr, he said he had backed the filly in a treble after the other legs of the bet — believed to be his own Arrowtown (4-5) and Michael Dods- trained Intense Romance (6-1) — had won at the Scottish track. David Easterby said: ‘we had no idea why Ladies First ran so badly. we eventually just put it down to one of those things after we had checked every conceivable outcome. we checked everything. ‘our first question when the BHA came and said, “we have bad news, you have tested positive for something”, was to ask if it had been to make the horse go faster or slower. They said to go slower.
‘I don’t bet big but I had a £50 double and £50 on the nose.
‘Someone has told me two people have been suspended at Newcastle, but they would not tell me any more than that. It sounds to me like two rogue individuals who thought they could earn a quick buck and it sounds like they have as well.
‘The BHA have done their initial tests with us and we just have to wait. They don’t tell us a lot.’
Asked how his father had taken the news, David Easterby added: ‘He is very happy that something has been found, because the owner (Reg Bond) was beside himself and couldn’t understand why the filly had been beaten.
‘That’s why we spent so much time trying to find out why she did run so badly.’
The BHA are refusing to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Beta blocking drugs, when used on horses, slow down the heartrate, stabilise the rhythm and inhibit the production of adrenalin, which in the case of a horse is essential for the flight response that makes it race most effectively.
The drug is used within the equine community for bona fide cardiology to counteract rhythm irregularities in the heart.