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Mahmood Al Zarooni
The Mahmood al-Zarooni steroids case involving the Godolphin trainer was the catalyst for the proposed policy changes. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
The Mahmood al-Zarooni steroids case involving the Godolphin trainer was the catalyst for the proposed policy changes. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

British Horseracing Authority delay zero-tolerance steroids policy

This article is more than 9 years old
Wrangling behind the scenes puts back planned launch
New rules now expected to come into force in March
Trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni’s doping scandal still festers
BHA must stop steroids taking centre stage at Festival

The British Horseracing Authority has suffered the embarrassment of having to delay its vaunted new steroids policy, which had been scheduled to begin on 1 January. The impressive-sounding ‘zero tolerance’ plan was announced to widespread approval in June but on Friday the ruling body had to accept that, after six months of wrangling behind the scenes, agreement has yet to be reached on at least one key area and therefore the policy will not take effect until March.

There was immediate scorn directed at the BHA for slipping out news of its humiliation on the last Friday afternoon before Christmas, in what was interpreted as an attempt to minimise negative headlines. Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s spokesman, rejected such criticism, saying the need for delay had been accepted only in the middle of this week and the announcement was put out as soon as a statement could be drafted and agreed.

BHA officials have had to deal with a series of administrative blunders this autumn and this climbdown is just the latest event giving the impression that they are not in full control of the sport. The new policy was intended to restore faith in racing after the very damaging revelations of steroids use by the trainers Mahmood al-Zarooni and Philip Fenton and the BHA’s failure to meet its own deadline for implementation looks like another self-inflicted wound.

The main stumbling block has been the need to identify a person who is responsible for a horse when it is not on licensed training premises. “The steroids bit of it is all quite straightforward,” said Richard Wayman, who has been involved in the negotiations as chief executive of the Racehorse Owners’ Association. “If your horse has taken steroids, you’re in trouble. If a horse is with the owner, then the owner is the responsible person. If it’s with the trainer, the trainer is responsible. The situation that is challenging is if the horse is with a third party. Who’s responsible then?”

Wayman offered the example of a trainer who, in the gap between seasons, divides his horses among two or three stud farms in the next county. “In some cases the trainer has decided that the horse will go to a particular place, or it may be the owner. When you’re drawing up rules to deal with that situation, it isn’t straightforward. Circumstances will vary from case to case.

“It’s a technical issue but we want to make sure that somebody who has had nothing to do with the decision is not, under the rules, held to be the responsible person.” In particular Wayman rejected as “unreasonable” the suggestion that owners should be held responsible as a default position, pointing out that many owners are based overseas and can hope to have very little control or oversight of their horses on a daily basis.

“I don’t think it’s insurmountable, we’re not too far from it. We almost could have gone with the new policy on 1 January but it would have appeared a bit premature and rushed. I don’t think it will drag on much beyond March.”

It might be said that apportioning responsibility ought to have been one of the first items for discussion back in June but Mounsey said it would be wrong to blame the BHA for failing to finalise matters by now. “Six months is pretty ambitious for rule changes of this magnitude,” he said.

In the background there has also been concern about whether Ireland would be able to implement equivalent policies on steroids by 1 January. If not, the BHA would have to consider whether to place Irish runners on the same footing as horses from the USA and Australia, who will now have to be in Britain for 10 working days before taking part in a race.

Denis Egan, chief executive of the Irish Turf Club, said on Friday night that the new regime there would still begin on 1 January, with all horses in training liable to be tested at any time, regardless of location. Egan said that a second set of changes, under which racehorses would be registered at birth and be liable to testing even before making it to the track, would be brought forward in an effort to assuage BHA concerns. Those changes had been planned for January 2016 but Egan now hopes to put them in place by April.

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