Racing:Nicky Henderson believes the three-month entry ban and the record €46,500 fine given to him by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) after he was found guilty of using a prohibited substance on the Queen's mare Moonlit Path was "harsh", while the National Trainers Federation (NTF) has described the sanction as "severe".
The leading National Hunt trainer attended a personal hearing on yesterday evening, where pleas of mitigation were entered to a British Horseracing Authority panel, and learned of his punishment this morning.
The 58-year-old handler faced a possible disqualification from the training ranks, but will instead be unable to run any of his horses from July 11th to October 10th.
He has also been hit with a record fine imposed on any British trainer.
The NTF this afternoon expressed sympathy for Henderson and is hoping talks with the BHA over the use of treatment to protect horses’ welfare can yield satisfactory results.
A statement read: “The penalty imposed on Nicky Henderson by the disciplinary panel is severe.
“It is therefore important to recognise the panel accepted his breach of Rule 200 was on a limited basis and his primary intention was the welfare of the horse.
“While not condoning any breach of the rules, the NTF has sympathy with Nicky Henderson since every trainer’s main concern is the welfare of their horses and it is therefore a cause of great regret that a senior trainer of such impeccable reputation should fall foul of the rules on prohibited substances by acting
in the interests of his horse.
“This is becoming a difficult area for trainers to manage and there is a debate to be had about the sense of banning the use of treatments that protect the horses’ welfare and are shown not to enhance performance.
“The NTF has already opened dialogue with BHA on this subject and looks forward to progressing them.”
In a statment of his own, Henderson said: “I am obviously hugely relieved that this saga has been concluded and, even though this seems a harsh sentence, we accept the findings and can now look forward again to the future and an exciting season ahead.
“As we are unable to have any runners for three months in our name, it is going to be all the more difficult to emulate last season’s amazing results, but this will make us try even harder to do so.
“Although the medication should not have been administered, I can only re-iterate, as the panel has accepted, that it was only given in the interest of the welfare of Moonlit Path herself.
“The support that I and all the family and the team have received over the last very testing weeks has been quite overwhelming and, under the circumstances, so much appreciated.
“My owners, fellow trainers, both National Hunt and Flat, so many friends (and) everyday racegoers have given us so much encouragement and backing.
“I can only thank you all enormously and this includes my legal team.
“I simply cannot tell you how much it has meant to me and everybody at Seven Barrows.”
Moonlit Path is one of a number of horses, including this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup seventh Barbers Shop, Henderson trains for The Queen.
In a statement issued through At The Races, the Queen’s jumps racing advisor, Michael Oswald, said: “We are disappointed. We will obviously discuss it
but have not yet had the chance to do so.
“We need to read the findings and take them all in before any decisions are made.”
Moonlit Path finished sixth in the TurfTV Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle on February 19, after which she tested positive for tranexamic acid, an anti-bleeding drug, which contravened BHA Rule 200.
Henderson had admitted to three of the four charges he faced, but denied any wrongdoing in relation to Rule 200, which governs administering or attempting to
administer a prohibited substance.
Henderson has always maintained the medication was used “in the interests of the horse’s welfare” — and not to improve performance.
The BHA’s public relations officer Paul Struthers said: “Breaches of Rule 200 are very serious, but what they have to take into account is the ways in which it can be breached.
“The treatment wasn’t recorded in the horse’s record-book and they concluded there was an attempt to hide the fact the horse had been given this substance.
“They concluded that the reason it was done was because they knew the horse shouldn’t have been given it.
“They could have disqualified him — a trainer banned, can’t train, can’t go racing and can’t be involved in racing — but what they did was take into account
Nicky’s previous record.
“They also factored in what the substance was. Contrary to what some people believe, the panel’s view is that if a horse has a tendency to bleed, it (tranexamic acid) will stop it.”