PLEASE LIFT MY BAN
MAHMOOD AL ZAROONI is seeking “a pardon” from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – claiming he is “a different person” from the man at the centre of the sport’s biggest doping scandal.
Al Zarooni, 43, trained almost 300 winners in Britain – landing Classics with Blue Bunting (2011 1000 Guineas) and Encke (2012 St Leger) – for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.
But in April 2013 he was cast out of the sport, receiving an eight-year ban from the BHA after 11 horses in his care tested positive for the anabolic steroids ethylestranol and stanozolol. Al Zarooni now lives with his family in his native Dubai where he survives off the earnings from his trainer career. Speaking for the first time about his role in the infamous case that threatened to rock racing to its core, Al Zarooni said: “The past six years have been very tough on me and my family.
“I would be grateful to the BHA if they grant me a pardon.
“I made a mistake but quickly realised the cost of using steroids. Eight years banned is a harsh punishment and a life changer.
“Now I’m a different person and I’ll train horses in a different way.
“I’ll stick to the rules and obey the regulations. It will be great to get a second chance.”
Al Zarooni, former assistant to Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor, was promoted to run a second stable for Sheikh Mohammed in 2010 and made an immediate impact when his first runner, Calming Influence, lifted the Godolphin Mile on the Dubai World Cup undercard at Meydan in March of that year.
Blue Bunting flew home under Frankie Dettori to land the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May 2011 and, although beaten in the Oaks at Epsom the following month, won the Irish equivalent at the Curragh and the Yorkshire version at York.
But Encke, who passed a drugs test after denying the Aidan O’Brien-saddled Camelot a historymaking Triple Crown in the St Leger at Doncaster in September 2012, was found to have been given stanozolol when BHA officials visited Al Zarooni’s Moulton Paddocks the following spring.
Al Zarooni, described as “finished” by former boss Sheikh Mohammed, admits making a “catastrophic error” but claims his use of steroids was “therapeutic” rather than part of a “plan to cheat”.
Although the object of a blanket ban in Britain, the administration of steroids was permitted out of competition in Dubai until May 2013. “The horses were out of competition – they were not going to run – and so the steroids were given for therapeutic reasons,” added Al Zarooni. “There was no plan to cheat.” Al Zarooni’s sentence, due to expire in 2021, is the most severe meted out in Britain for the use of steroids.
“I think I was made an example of. I thought my ban would be a maximum of three years,” said Al Zarooni.
“When I got eight years, big shock.” it was a