Lady was ‘got to’.. says Mick
MICK EASTERBY yesterday claimed “someone got to” Ladies First, the horse at the centre of a doping probe after her flop at Newcastle last month.
The four-year-old tested positive for betablockers after trailing in eighth of nine as the 6-4 favourite for a one-mile fillies’ handicap at Gosforth Park on 21 September.
Easterby, who had saddled Ladies First to victory in an apprentice handicap at York 12 days before, believed Ladies First was “a steering job” for the Newcastle race and is adamant she fell victim to the dopers.
“She won an apprentice race at York and went up 6lb, so we wanted to run her off her old mark,” said the 87-year-old.
“I thought she was a steering job, but she wasn’t. I was gutted. “Someone got to her.” Newcastle has suspended two employees pending the outcome of a British Horseracing Authority probe.