The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has said it will be “defending the case fully” after trainer Harry Rogers lodged documents with the High Court following his claims of a false positive drugs test on one of his horses in 2017.
Co Louth-based Rogers has said he has lost potential earnings, incurred reputational damage, as well as suffering mental stress after he was informed that an unnamed winner had tested positive for a prohibited substance. The test was carried out at BHP laboratories in Limerick.
Rogers asked for the ‘B’ sample to be tested at a different laboratory, and it came back negative. The IHRB case was subsequently dropped. Rogers has initiated legal proceedings against both BHP and the IHRB.
BHP had tested for Irish racing’s regulatory board, previously known as the Turf Club, for almost 20 years but that relationship ended in 2018. No comment was made at the time as to whether it was linked to the test result returned from the Rogers horse.
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The IHRB subsequently moved its drug testing to the LGC laboratory in Newmarket. There were reports of up to €500,000 being paid by the regulator to BHP in compensation for loss of business.
Rogers declined to comment on the matter on Sunday.
An IHRB spokesman commented: “We will be defending the case fully, but we’re not in a position to comment any further while the proceedings are ongoing.”
In other news, Nicky Henderson’s quandary over Sir Gino’s preparation underlines how, with just over four weeks to the Cheltenham Festival, almost every step is getting more tense.
Forced to miss Newbury’s Game Spirit Chase at the weekend due to a sore hind leg, Henderson’s hugely exciting novice, and Arkle Trophy favourite, faces a race against time to squeeze in a warm-up race before the festival.
Initial confidence that Sir Gino would be back being ridden quickly faded on Sunday when Henderson reported the horse to be still a bit sore.
“I’m a bit disappointed this morning, I’ve got to admit, there’s no point in saying anything else. I hoped we might even be riding him tomorrow and just now that doesn’t look quite so likely,” he said.
Henderson is keen to give Sir Gino some much needed experience before Cheltenham but his options are limited to Saturday week’s Pendil Chase at Kempton and a minor event at Bangor.
“We would desperately like to get a run into him before Cheltenham, I still think we probably can.
“One or two people that remember what went [in the] past have said they can remember three horses that have won the Arkle on only their second run over fences, so that gives me hope. As if that is desperately the case, that is what we might have to do,” said Henderson.
“Racing-wise, there’s very little. There’s the Pendil at Kempton, which is a fortnight yesterday and over 2½ miles, which I don’t really want to do. The whole point of running at Newbury against the older horses was so he could get the experience at somebody else’s speed, not his.
“They have put on a race at Bangor two days after Kempton over two miles, but that is awful close to Cheltenham, and you could only see him going round on his own if he did do that. We can do that at home or hopefully by borrowing racecourses.
“He had an antibiotic on Friday night. Yesterday he’d gone two steps forward and we’ve lost one of those steps this morning, but that’s the way it is, and we can only play it as it is,” he added.
Separately, Gavin Cromwell’s Exeter expedition paid off on Sunday when Only By Night successfully conceded weight all-round in a Listed Mares Novice Chase.
Keith Donoghue guided the 10/11 favourite to a one length success over compatriot Kilbarry Saint. Willie Mullins’s Fun Fun Fun finished fourth.
“I thought the ground was a little bit dead for her, but I always felt I was doing enough when I got to the front. I felt she was just idling,” said Donoghue.
The winner has a choice of Cheltenham options between the Mares Chase and taking on Sir Gino in the Arkle.
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