IHRB refuse to comment on reports of another racehorse testing positive for steroids

Racing’s regulatory body has refused to comment on a report that another racehorse in Ireland has tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

Last month the Denis Hogan-trained Turbine was banned from racing until March of next year after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone.

Turbine is believed to be the first horse ever to test positive for an anabolic steroid in Ireland.

Hogan escaped any penalties after a vet accepted responsibility for the horse being administered the substance by mistake.

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However it's now understood the horse Druim Samhraidh, trained by Co Meath-based David Dunne, has tested positive for another anabolic steroid after winning at Ballinrobe last month.

A newspaper report has outlined how the Jamie Codd-ridden winner subsequently tested positive for the steroid, Boldenone.

Dunne didn't return calls on the matter on Sunday and the IHRB chief executive Denis Egan wouldn't comment.

“The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board does not comment on any prohibited substance enquiries or ongoing investigations,” he said.

It’s also understood officials from the IHRB and the department of agriculture visited Dunne’s yard near Ratoath last month on the back of the positive urine test returned by Druim Samhraidh.

The six-year-old won a bumper at Ballinrobe on August 12th. The 4-1 shot won by 10 lengths from Shanwalla.

The IHRB said after the Turbine case that the suspensions imposed were in line with British Horseracing Authority guidelines.

Those guidelines state that any horse testing positive for a prohibited substance will face a stand-down period of 14 months – 12 months out of training and two months in training but prohibited from racing – from the date of the positive sample.

However, the penalties in relation to Turbine were backdated to when the substance containing the anabolic steroid was believed to have been mistakenly administered.