A CURSORY read of recent articles in the press, and listening to news reports on radio and television, might lead the average person in the street to believe that horse racing in Ireland is currently in a bad place. These are stories regarding horse welfare, reports of injuries and positive ‘dope tests’.

I would like to look at the other side of the coin, and tell a different and more positive story. I am an Irish veterinary surgeon who has worked with horses in all equestrian disciplines, including racing, for 39 years. This included a spell of nine years in Britain. I have treated Derby winners and horses that have come last in races at local country tracks, all with equal concern and attention.

Ireland leads the world in horse breeding, production and racing. This is not due to any nefarious activity but, in my opinion, is due to excellent nutrition, management and the horsemanship of the grooms, head lads, trainers and all involved in the industry. The Irish have always had an empathy with the horse, with an insight into equine psychology. This is a skill that gets the optimum performance from their equine charges.

As a veterinary surgeon I go into many yards, and it is a pleasure to see most horses either happily munching hay or with their heads over the stable door, ears pricked and watching all the action. These are the horses that give their all when racing.

I would like to address the perceived misuse of drugs in horse racing in Ireland. All horses require medicines during their life to maintain health, treat disease and, for performance horses, to make them the best they can be according to their genetic potential. These therapeutic medicines and nutraceuticals often get confused in the press with performance enhancing drugs.

Nightmare

Most positive drug tests are due to accidental doping with legitimate therapeutic medicines or environmental contamination. It is a nightmare for veterinary surgeons and trainers to try to treat their charges legitimately, and not lead to an accidental positive. Trace therapeutic doping is the area proving to be the most problematic nowadays. It is also the area which has shown the greatest relative increase in positive findings.

The essential problem is that, because of ever more sensitive analytical detection methods that have now been developed, smaller and smaller amounts of therapeutic substances are being detected at times more and more remote from their administration. Drugs legitimately given to horses in training by a veterinary surgeon are being detected for far longer periods than previously and, in some cases, are being detected on race days, even where prolonged withholding times have been observed.

These positive medication findings are nothing more than a quirk of the analytical system, giving rise to absurd positives of tiny traces of therapeutic drugs which were legitimately given some time back. Modern detection tests are becoming more sensitive all the time, so that what was negative and undetectable last year is detectable and positive this year.

Good job

In response to recent commentary by trainers and others in the media regarding systematic doping, I have to say it is not my experience. The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) are doing a good job and, compared to any other sport, the testing in horse racing is rigorous. If a horse has so much as a square of chocolate on the day of racing it will test positive. Would this happen in athletics?

The IHRB each year are increasing the number of samples taken, and with a decrease in positive percentages. I believe performance enhancing drugs are rarely used in Irish horse racing for several reasons. These are:

  • The increasing sophistication of testing makes it almost certain to be detected.
  • Drugs are no substitute for good management and training, and for the tiny minority of trainers who even consider risking using them, it is just a crutch for their training inadequacies.
  • Irish trainers are paranoid about using even the most basic of therapeutic medicines close to racing in case of an inadvertent positive test. It would be incredible if they were risking their careers and knowingly trying to criminally dope their horses.
  • In my years in practice I would vouch for the honesty and professionalism of 99% of horse trainers I have dealt with.

    • Detriment of racing

    In other racing jurisdictions certain anabolic preparations such as nitrotain were permitted. It was to the detriment of Irish racing that some individuals illegally imported this anabolic agent over 10 years ago. Its use and source was discovered and eliminated. This led to more frequent and enhanced testing.

    It is unfair to repeatedly refer back to this occurrence and imply things have not changed.

    In conclusion, I maintain that Irish racing is well run by the regulatory authorities and we are lucky to have talented and dedicated trainers, grooms and jockeys. Is there room for improvement? Yes.

    Now all of life testing is being introduced, alongside race day testing and unannounced testing at trainers’ yards. It is also imperative that anyone with information on prohibited medication use in racehorses must report this to the IHRB to benefit the sport.

    Everybody must play their part.