Winner disqualified after testing positive for banned drug prescribed to trainer's dog

A trainer has had her only winner of the jumps season disqualified over a drug prescribed to the stable’s dog. Friends Don’t Ask won a 3m2f handicap chase at Uttoxeter in July last year, striking at odds of 16-1 under jockey Nick Scholfield.

But the 10-year-old subsequently failed a post-race drug test when a urine sample detected traces of Firocoxib, sold as Previcox, a prescription-only non-steroidal medication prescribed in tablet form for the control of pain and inflammation associated with in animals.

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Firocoxib is a prohibited substance and should not be present in a horse’s system when it runs in a race. It is a strict liability offence.

Clare Ellam was referred to the British Horseracing Authority’s independent disciplinary panel, agreeing to the case being heard under the Fast Track protocol.

The panel heard that an investigation revealed that Firocoxib, in the form of Previcox tablets, had been prescribed to Ellam’s stable dog ‘Potch’, who was allowed “unfettered access" to the yard where Friends Don’t Ask was stabled.

Chair HH Clement Goldstone KC, concluded the most likely explanation for the ingestion of the drug into the horse’s system was “as a result of the dog having licked the side of the horse’s feed bowl and/or having urinated on hay which had subsequently been eaten by the horse”.

Although the drug can be prescribed for horses, the recommended dosage for is significantly higher.

It was accepted that Ellam had no knowledge that the horse had ingested the substance, but that there were significant failings at the yard, notably “a degree of recklessness” by the trainer in allowing her dog unrestricted access to the yard.

Taking into account Ellam’s genuine remorse, her previous unblemished record as a trainer and her decision to curtail her dog’s use of a drug which was clearly having a therapeutic effect to prevent a repeat, she was fined £1,500.

Friends Don’t Ask was disqualified and the first prize-money of £3,247.81 re-distributed accordingly.