Hell’s Kitchen disqualified two years after Festival arsenic test
More than two years after finishing fourth to Altior in the Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, Hell’s Kitchen was yesterday disqualified for having tested positive for arsenic, a banned substance.
Harry Fry, his trainer, escaped punishment by the British Horseracing Authority after a disciplinary panel accepted that Hell’s Kitchen more than likely ingested the arsenic chewing on wood in his stable. Arsenic is poisonous to insects and has long been used as a timber preservative.
Brian Barker QC, delivering the panel’s verdict, said: “There is a warning here about the dangers of treated wood.”
Roderick Moore, Fry’s barrister, said: “Whenever the BHA gives out advice to trainers, that advice is taken on board by Mr Fry. There is at present no advice about the risk presented by treated timber.”
In 2006, a study of the remains of Phar Lap, the great Australian racehorse poisoned in the United States in 1932, concluded the horse died from a massive overdose of arsenic,
In the 1930s, however, most racehorses were given a tonic that included arsenic, as it was believed to give their coats a good shine.
Meanwhile, on the day owners were allowed back on the racecourse with the easing of lockdown restrictions, the BHA announced it had agreed a deal with the Government and its Sport Winter Survival Package to borrow £21million.
Julie Harrington, BHA chief executive, said: “This money will help ensure racing continues behind closed doors despite the absence of spectator revenues.”
Racecourses, which have lost £325 million in turnover, are hoping spectators will be able to start returning from May 17.