Drugs, Suspensions and the abomination that is ....

​Ed Dunlop, an upright and honourable man, I suspect, has had the threat of losing his training licence (his livelihood) hanging over him for the past 12-months, apparently. One of his horses last season was found to have cocaine in its system after a post-race test. After the investigation and enquiry, the said upright and honourable man was found ‘sort of guilty’, ‘though not exactly guilty’ and given a 12-month suspended suspension. This, in my opinion, leaves him open to someone with a gripe about him making a false allegation to the B.H.A., or more dastardly actually putting a banned substance into the mouth of one of his horses due to race in the following days. Easily achieved as all that needs be done is to throw a contaminated apple into the stable of one of his horses or something similar.
It was blatantly obvious that Dunlop had nothing to do with the small amount of cocaine that was found and that the amount was too insignificant to affect the performance of the horse, yet he had to take the rap for it. The rule is unambiguous: when a horse is discovered to have a banned substance in its system the buck always must stop with the trainer.
In days gone by, such scant evidence against a defendant would not be sufficient for a guilty verdict, though in the ‘two-tier’ system of justice initiated by our present Prime Minister, where the law is open to interpretation, perhaps a judge might have swayed the verdict and locked-up poor Ed for several years.
His arm twisted by events, Ed Dunlop will now attempt to bring in random drug tests on his employees and is to recommend to the National Trainers’ Federation that similar impositions become mandatory in every stable. You can understand why he has decided to impose this draconian measure on his staff. Apparently, a groom taking illegal drugs, or prescribed for that matter, only has to pee in a stable for a horse to become contaminated. How is not explained.
As someone who rebelled against mandatory covid vaccinations, it is hypocritical of me to support Ed Dunlop in this matter. But the livelihoods of trainers, and thereby their staff, easily hangs by a thread when the buck, no matter the contrary evidence, stops with the licence holder. Too many trainers in the past had their livelihoods stolen from them when they had done no wrong. Captain Ryan Price, for example. Back in the day of The Jockey Club, the rules where not necessarily applied to dispense justice and to root-out bad apples but as a frightener to others. Captain Price loved his horses and gave many of his old horses a home for life. He was not a bad apple but someone who could be listed beside other great trainers, Winter, Pipe, Dickinson, as a man with a rare gift, one of the greatest of the greatest. Unfortunately, there were people at the Jockey Club who either disliked him or distrusted his training methods. The B.H.A. must remain enlightened and not become as overbearing at their predecessors. 

Callum Shepherd, I am pleased to see, through the Jockeys Association, is to appeal against his 18-day suspension for ‘dropping his hands before the finishing line.’ I cannot say with hand on heart that his horse won that evening. He certainly did not lose and the more I stared at the photo-finish photograph the less I could convince myself that the judge had erred in his verdict. In fairness, I think a dead-heat was a fair judgement. That, though, is no longer the point of conjecture. What is up for debate is whether 18-days is a fair penalty and why James Doyle got away scot-free the previous evening at Chelmsford for a similar transgression.
Let me be clear, I did not think Doyle did anything wrong. He was riding a lightly-raced two-year-old and Doyle had given him an excellent ride until the final couple of yards of the race. He had the race won, he was intent on easing him over the line and his mount sensing the release of pressure skipped sideways. Doyle was fortunate not to fall off. If he had been given a 2-day ban I would have thought it harsh.
Despite his protestations, I do believe Shephard eased-off in a similar manner to Doyle as he approached the finishing line. Unlike at Chelmsford, Shepherd did not lose the whole race, only half of it. To my mind, the race should have been referred for further analysis, with any punishment deferred. 18-days, in this instant, is far too harsh and I suspect on appeal it will be reduced, if the penalty system allows (I am in ignorance here) to %-days or less.

I would like to make clear, after how many years it has existed, that I continue hate and ridicule the concept of the Racing League. It is an abomination that is fun for the likes of Matt Chapman and Leonna Mayor, who captain two of the make-believe teams but a dead donkey for anyone who would who values the heritage of the sport. If the sport’s promoters cannot build an audience from the hard-work and enthusiasm of the I.T.V. racing team or from any of the great racing festivals in the calendar, a made-up parody of the sport will achieve little or nothing of value. Even Saffie Osborne winning the leading jockeys’ title 3-years in a row has brought me no joy. Horse racing, as I continue to remind people, has nothing in common with Formula 1.