Godolphin caught out.

The maximum penalty in this sort of case is ten years, so this was near the top end of the scale. The fact that he admitted it, assisted the investigators (e.g. by pointing them to the additional four horses that weren't tested) and that it was samples taken in training rather than post-race will have acted as mitigating facts.

In comparison, Howard Johnson was banned for one year for anabolic steroid use in training (he got a four-year ban in total but the other three years were for unrelated welfare offences).
 
justabob said:
Lets look at it this was, he will be lucky to get a job training *Flappers* in Wales after 8 years.
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I would imagine he will fade into oblivion in the far east. Who will replace him or will the horses still able to race be shipped out to other trainers ?
 
So the vet blindly injected horses without asking what he is putting into them? Uh huh! Will he be struck off now?!

The owner and racing manager had no idea? Yeah! Sure!
 
Dobiegirl said:
http://www.racingpost.com/news/live.sd?event_id=1055027


The vets assistant had no idea what he was injecting :rolleyes:

Caledonia that was a very good article. Whats the betting now that the horses go back to Dubai for the 6 months.
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If the "vet's assistant" is a qualified vet, then that is no excuse.

What's the betting that with a 6month ban, which will effectively be 12 months, because the ban will cover this summer, just about, that fillies such as Certify go off to stud!

Brace yourself, SallyF, I'm going to put a bid in! ;):D

Alec.
 
JackAT said:
What really gets me is the bit where he says that he was under the impression that it was completely within the rules to pump up horses with steroids whilst they are training, as long as it isn't when they are racing!!

What kind of trainer doesn't know the rulebook inside out?!?!
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EXACTLY.

Alec Swan said:
I'll bet that Saturday morning's response will be a vacuous and noncommittal response. I also strongly suspect that the main influence will be around the question, "What would happen if the Middle Eastern Money were to leave British racing?".
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There was good piece in one of the local papers about the possible knock-on effects of an Arab pulling out of Newmarket, I'll try to find it.

EKW said:
So the vet blindly injected horses without asking what he is putting into them? Uh huh! Will he be struck off now?!
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Maybe I'm naieve but i'm not sure the Sheik did know about it.

I do however suspect there will be a case for a vet to be struck off, somewhere down the line. Newmarket's vets should all know the doping rules for racing just as well as the trainers, if not more so, surely. :confused:
 
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has been banned from racing for eight years after doping horses at one of the world's leading racing operations.

The British Horseracing authority has also banned 15 horses for six months.

Nice one.

Sheikh Mohammed playing the 'I didn't know card' as expected. :D
 
Pale Rider said:
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has been banned from racing for eight years after doping horses at one of the world's leading racing operations.

The British Horseracing authority has also banned 15 horses for six months.

Nice one.

Sheikh Mohammed playing the 'I didn't know card' as expected. :D
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It is interesting to note that many of their horses are over wintered in Dubai where it is permitted to use steroids in the training period. they could all be treated with the drug there quite legally & return to Newmarket once it was undetectable. There is going to be so much speculation about htis & thoughts on their big winners like Dubai Millennium.
The excuses from the team just don't seem to add up.
there will of course be too much fear of unbalancing the industry here by digging deeper. too many people are dependent on Godolphin now; Newmarket is an Arab state just about. They own nearly everything & pump money into the Equine Research Station. There is too much at stake, so they will not have further investigation.
 
EKW said:
So the vet blindly injected horses without asking what he is putting into them? Uh huh! Will he be struck off now?!

The owner and racing manager had no idea? Yeah! Sure!
Click to expand...

Surely the private vet would be an Arab trained professional and therefore not legislated in the same way that the MRCVS vets we are all used to ?

I would think the vet and the trainer will be on the next plane out of the UK.
 
More disrupute from the owner who brought endurance into disrepute a few years ago. There must be tremendous pressure on subordinates to produce results. Like to make the point now there is random drug testing at UK rides, & there aren't failures. Drug abuse is not endemic in uk endurance!
 
Honeylight said:
It is interesting to note that many of their horses are over wintered in Dubai where it is permitted to use steroids in the training period. ........
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Assuming the above statement to be correct, then with an approach such as this in Dubai, it's hardly beyond the realms of possibility that the use of banned chemicals has overspilled to here.

I've just seen this morning's news, and seen Crisford interviewed. I realise that it's only speculation, because the truth is that we simply don't know, but his whole body language and the deliverance of his thoughts, were such that I didn't believe a single word of it, or put another way, he wasn't that convincing!! :D

Alec.
 
It’s a bloody disgrace. And it’s all about to be swept under the carpet quicker than you can say anabolic steroids, because the BHA are ***** scared of upsetting the Arabs, in case they take their bat & ball back to Dubai and also because they want to put a lid on the whole sorry affair and carry on with the rest of the season, hoping this nasty little incident will go away and be forgotten. Al Zarooni has been hung out to dry as the sacrificial lamb (I actually feel quite sorry for him) while the Sheik makes his displeasure (& ignorance of the whole thing) public and Chrisford laments his poor judgement in recommending Al Zarooni in the 1st place. Watch them all now scrabbling for the moral high ground.
 
Pale Rider said:
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has been banned from racing for eight years after doping horses at one of the world's leading racing operations.

The British Horseracing authority has also banned 15 horses for six months.

Nice one.

Sheikh Mohammed playing the 'I didn't know card' as expected. :D
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My goodness, when in Rome. CEO's in the UK know full well that in the event of a catastrophe they must fall on their swords!! The buck stops with the boss.

I am curious to know if Sheikh MO and his Princess will be in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot this year.
 
I've never been convinced by Simon Crisford, even when he had nothing to hide!

Surely as racing manager he should go too, although he's saying he hasnt even considered resignation. Now he's off to Dubai to meet the sheik.
 
So the trainer continued to inject those horses even though he knew the BHA were coming, so the question is why would he do that, he is not an idiot so what was his motives. More questions than answers Im afraid and something stinks.
 
What I found despicable in Crisford's press conference (other than his buck passing and self serving floundering) was the emotional blackmail employed by making thinly veiled threats that if people hassle Shakey Mo any more, he'll flounce and leave UK racing. :mad:

Newmarket should never have been allowed to become another UAE state in all but name. :confused:
 
I've just listened to the interview with Paul Bittar from the BHA. Whatever my previous views about Graham Cunningham, and whilst I was expecting CH4 to sweep this under the carpet, GC's questions were searching, potentially embarrassing, for Godolphin, CH4 and the BHA, and were incisive. His comments were no less caustic, they represented fair play and racing, and I for one, applaud him.

Crisford's initial description of Zarooni, was "so middle eastern", it was THAT dismissive of him!! "This man al Zorooni", a man with whom he'd have been on first name terms, but a week or so ago!! Crisford's insistence that it was he who appointed al Zarooni, makes for very little sense, unless it's just another effort by the Godolphin principal to distance himself from the whole affair.

As the pundits have said, there is far more to this than we know. Whether we ever get to the bottom of it, is anyone's guess!

One small and nagging doubt; Just why has al Zarooni been SO open with the BHA, including volunteering the information that there were a further 4 horses which he'd treated? Most would go for damage limitation, and that of course, is what it may well have been! ;)

Alec.
 
I suspect MAZ has forgone a lawyer, and admitted about the other horses under pressure from above. He absolutely is the fall guy.

I was pretty impressed with GC too. But then I think Bittar was very cool under fire. I think he's good for racing, and I also think they've acted this quickly because they needed to stop MAZ immediately.

I fully expect that there will be a lot more going on behind the scenes that the BHA can't/won't publicly elaborate on. That may be why Crisford was so uncomfortable and blustering despite having had 3 weeks to prepare for this. Because the buck is still in play, it has to stop somewhere, and Shakey Mo will be doing everything he can to make sure it doesn't reach him.

Sacrificing Crisford might be the only way to prevent further ramifications, although I believe they need to go right to the top.
 
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