Trainers' chief slams BHA drug test proposals

From the start of the 2008 turf Flat season, an owner who wants counter analysis of a positive sample will have to pay £500 towards the cost. Otherwise, the BHA will take disciplinary action on the outcome of the 'A' test alone. The issue is bound to provoke a hot debate with owners and trainers.

Rupert Arnold, chief executive of the National Trainers Federation, said: 'We shall be objecting very strongly at the joint meeting with the owners at the BHA in January.

'We don't think it is right that owners should pay if the procedure is to be robust. It is important the 'B' sample is tested in all cases.'

Until now, any horse which fails a dope test — there were 72 between 2003 and 2006 when a recent study was completed — has been entitled to counter analysis from a laboratory other than the Horserace Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket which analyses all 'A' samples.

Of the 72 samples, only two returned from counter analysis laboratories without positive confirmation and both of these were 'ambiguous', according to a report compiled by Dr Janet Thompson, formerly the chief executive of the Forensic Science Service.

One of these was the case of Mark Bradstock's Cheltenham Festival winner King Harald, who tested positive after winning the 2005 Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase. Failure of the 'B' test to confirm the initial finding was blamed on the scientific procedure not working effectively at the chosen Swiss laboratory.

The second case involved John Gosden's Nannina. She tested positive following her win in the 2006 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, but, the report says, the 'B' sample had 'deteriorated' (its state suggested it had not been kept cold) when tested at a Hong Kong lab.

This occurred in a lab that would not allow the owners, Cheveley Park Stud, to have their independent expert witness the counter analysis.

Dr Thompson recommended that the BHA should pay for counter analysis, in the interests of fairness and integrity but the BHA have chosen to impose a charge which covers half the cost.

Chris Richardson, managing director of the Cheveley Park Stud, said: 'Nannina's sample was in their control — it was nothing to do with us and procedures were followed to the letter. Anything that speeds up the process would be welcomed.'