Irish racing reels from another steroid scandal following Fenton verdict

The fallout from Philip Fenton’s conviction for possession of anabolic steroids and other banned substances has dealt a further blow to Irish racing’s reputation – although the Turf Club faces the immediate prospect of being effectively powerless to impose penalties of its own should the trainer choose to appeal yesterday’s decision.

Earlier this month, another trainer, Pat Hughes, was fined €2,500 and told to pay €5,600 in costs after being found guilty of possessing unauthorised animal medicines, including the anabolic steroid Stanozolol.

Hughes will reportedly appeal that verdict, and racings regulatory body can’t censure him until the legal process has wound up.

Illegal steroids

Fenton has been fined €6,000 and ordered to pay more than €4,000 in costs after Department of Agriculture officials found a kilogram of Nitrotain and a 20ml bottle of Ilium Stanabolic in a search of his premises in early 2012. Both are anabolic steroids and illegal for use on horses in

Ireland

.

Fenton has indicated he may appeal, which could stall any move the already under-fire Turf Club might make to discipline him.

Almost an hour after Fenton’s conviction, one of his horses, Desert Roe, finished unplaced in a race at Thurles. He has a number of entries for horses over the upcoming bank holiday weekend.

Hughes hasn’t had a runner since the end of May, when Bend The Rules ran at Tramore, but he is technically still entitled to make entries and race them.

Nevertheless, the Turf Club's chief executive, Denis Egan, stressed the regulatory body will carry out its own investigation of the Fenton case and will want to interview the trainer to establish what rules of racing he may be in breach of.

“It is very worrying that this took place,” Egan said. “It proves the increased checks that are now in place, increased inspections, increased testing-in-training, are justified and will have to continue.

“Random inspections and the testing of horses in training have increased hugely, five-fold I would say, in the last year, and that’s going to continue, and we make no apologies for it,” he said. “There will be more joint-inspections with the Department of Agriculture because they have powers that we don’t have.

“It is significant that both these cases came about by the Department of Agriculture, based on seizures they made at premises. We don’t have powers to make seizures.”

No current evidence

Egan pointed out that both the Fenton and Hughes cases relate to what happened more than two years ago. He said there is currently no evidence of a similar issue surrounding steroids in Irish racing.

One immediate result of Fenton’s guilty verdict is that Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has removed his Gigginstown Stud horses from the trainer’s yard.

O'Leary had consistently backed Fenton, who trained the businessman's now-retired Hennessy Gold Cup winner Last Instalment, even after another leading owner, Barry Connell, took his horses away earlier this year.

"While Gigginstown was willing to support Philip Fenton until his innocence or otherwise was established, it will not condone or accept the possession of anabolic steroids," a statement said. "Accordingly Michael O'Leary has spoken to Philip Fenton and advised him that the Gigginstown House Stud horses will be transferred with immediate effect to other trainers."

Fenton’s guilty verdict comes eight months after news of charges against him dominated the run-up to the Cheltenham festival, a period when criticism of the Turf Club’s role was widespread.

The British Horseracing Authority sent its own dope-testing unit to Fenton's yard in February after news of his impending trial became public.

New drug-testing

The medication issue has continued to dog racing throughout 2014 and prompted a proposed radical new drug-testing regime for Irish racing.

Plans to have that regime in place by the start of 2015 are still ongoing, including extensive testing of all thoroughbreds. This would include both in-training in licensed racing stables, which currently applies, as well as out-of-training, which has long been suspected to be a problem in terms of medication abuse.

Earlier this year the Turf Club outlined hopes that its officials would be given a range of search-and-seizure powers. However, there appears to be behind-the-scenes fears within racing that those powers will remain strictly with Department of Agriculture officials, resulting in little change in the ability of racing officials to effectively investigate potential medication problems.

The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine, Brendan Gleeson, was questioned on integrity functions by a Dáil committee earlier this year.

“I have some doubts about the wisdom or even the legal propriety of giving a private body these very strong policing powers outside its strict remit, as provided for within the regulations,” Gleeson said then. “In practise, the reality is that when things happen off-track, they are generally done in collaboration with the Department.

“We have investigations personnel who are empowered under various individual legislative measures to do the types of thing the Turf Club is as anxious to do off-track.”