News Results of Hearings held by the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Disciplinary Panel

The results of two hearings held by the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Disciplinary Panel on 27^th November, 2018.

AMY ALLEN – SERENITATIS (IRE)

On 27^th November 2018 the Retraining of Racehorses Disciplinary Panel held a Hearing to consider whether Amy Allen was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5 of the Rules and Regulations of Retraining of Racehorses concerning the presence of a Prohibited Substance in a sample of blood taken from SERENITATIS at Aintree on 22 August 2018.

The Disciplinary Panel considered the documentation and an admission on the part of Amy Allen, who was not present, that she was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5. Having considered the matter they accepted her admission and concluded that she was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5 of the Rules and Regulations of Retraining of Racehorses in that a sample of blood was taken from SERENITATIS at Aintree on 22 August 2018 following the participation of the horse in the RoR Class that day and that sample tested positive for the presence of chlorpheniramine, which is a Prohibited Substance as defined in the RoR Rules and Regulations.

Having carefully considered the written submissions of Amy Allen in connection with penalty the Disciplinary Panel accepted that the cause of the positive sample was the administration of Piriton. The Panel accepted that the fact that this contained a Prohibited Substance was most likely to have been a complete oversight by Amy Allen.

Credit was given for Ms Allen’s early admission, the fact that no B sample was requested, her full co-operation throughout the matter, the cogent explanation given for the positive result and the fact that she took full responsibility and would have attended the hearing if required.

However, the Panel recognised that it is a serious offence for a horse to compete with any Prohibited Substance in its system, and imposed the following penalties:

1. A fine of £150;
2. An order that SERENITATIS be disqualified from class 13 at the RoR Goffs UK National Championships at Aintree on 22 August 2018 with forfeiture of any placings, awards and prize money won;
3. A caution as to future conduct to be placed on Mrs Allen’s record for a period of 2 years; and
4. A declaration that RoR will not accept entries for Ex-racehorse Classes for SERENITATIS until the fine imposed has been paid.

Disciplinary Panel: David Morley (Chair), Bobby McEwen, Yogi Breisner

JOANNA BATES – GRANDEUR (IRE)

On 27 November 2018 the Retraining of Racehorses Disciplinary Panel held a Hearing to consider whether Ms Joanna Bates was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5 of the Rules and Regulations of Retraining of Racehorses concerning the presence of Prohibited Substances in a sample of blood taken from GRANDEUR at Windsor on 10 May 2018.

The Disciplinary Panel considered the documentation and submissions of Ms Joanna Bates who was present and legally represented, and also an admission on her part that she was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5. Having considered the matter the Panel accepted her admission and concluded that she was in breach of Rules 8.1 and 8.5 of the Rules and Regulations of Retraining of Racehorses in that a sample of blood was taken from GRANDEUR at Windsor on 10 May 2018 following the participation of the horse in the RoR Class that day and that sample tested positive for the presence of acepromazine, HEPS and omeprazole, which are Prohibited Substances as defined in the RoR Rules and Regulations.

Having carefully considered the evidence and submissions of Ms Joanna Bates and her legal representative in connection with penalty the Disciplinary Panel accepted that there was clear evidence that Ms Bates gave GRANDEUR omeprazole and gave her credit for the admission. The Panel also accepted that the source of the acepromazine was the Sedalin given to GRANDEUR by Ms Bates on 1 May 2018 and that it was not present through foul play. The Panel heard submissions regarding breach of confidentiality but found that there was no evidence to link any such conduct to Retraining of Racehorses.

Credit was given for Ms Bates’ admission of the breach, the fact that no B sample was requested and her attendance at the Hearing to give evidence.

However, the Panel recognised that it is a serious offence for a horse to compete with any Prohibited Substance in its system, and imposed the following penalties:

1. A fine of £450.00
2. An order that GRANDEUR be disqualified from the class at Windsor on 10 May 2018 with forfeiture of any placings, awards and prize money won
3. A caution as to future conduct to be placed on Ms Joanna Bates record for a period of two years
4. A declaration that RoR will not accept entries for Ex-racehorse Classes for GRANDEUR or for horses within Ms Joanna Bates ownership or control until the fine imposed has been paid
5. Disqualification of GRANDEUR from the Ex-racehorse Class at Windsor in which he participated and any subsequent class for which he qualified as a result

The Panel also heard submissions on publication of this Decision Notice but concluded, in the interests of consistency, that the result should be publicised as with past cases.

Disciplinary Panel: David Morley (Chair), Bobby McEwen and Yogi Breisner