Irish racing has reason to hope that its year-long drugs nightmare may be close to ending after Saturday’s news that Philip Fenton will be banned from the sport for three years. While a similar case involving the trainer Pat Hughes has yet to be wrapped up, a senior official believes there are no other cases of comparable gravity in the offing.
“I’m not aware of any other cases to come involving anabolic steroids,” said Denis Egan, chief executive of the Irish Turf Club. “We’re working very closely with the Department of Agriculture [which successfully prosecuted Fenton and Hughes in the criminal courts for steroid possession] and it appears there is nothing coming in towards us now.
“Having said that, there may be one or two cases pending where the department has found prescription-only medicines following inspections [of trainers’ premises]. I can’t say that for definite but there may be. But there are no anabolic steroid cases pending.”
The Turf Club is taking legal advice as to whether it can proceed against Hughes before the hearing of his appeal against his criminal conviction. But Fenton appears to have had his last runner for the time being, as he will be banned from making entries at midnight on Friday and he has no horses declared to run before then.
The British Horseracing Authority revealed on Sunday that it had written to Fenton and Hughes shortly after their criminal convictions, saying that no further entries would be accepted from them. A BHA spokesman said that decision could be reviewed if Fenton were to recover his licence to train at the end of his ban.
Egan declined to say whether Fenton had offered any explanation as to why steroids and other banned substances were on his Carric- on-Suir premises when government vets raided it in 2012. But he added that further details of the hearing will be included in a report to be published this week.
From 1 January the Turf Club will have new powers to conduct unannounced tests on racehorses even when they are not in training or on licensed premises. Egan said that recent talks with government had indicated increased funding will be made available for this type of work but insisted that, in any case, the Turf Club has sufficient staffing and resources to cope with the increased workload.
“We carried out 140 inspections in the last year, 35 jointly with the department,” he said. “The out-of-competition testing will be as focused as possible. We will try to pitch up in places where problems might be expected. It will have to be intelligence driven.” Egan added that a confidential reporting phone line would be set up from 1 January, offering five-figure rewards for information leading to drug-related convictions.
Vautour looks the kind of horse to provide Irish racing with a better sort of headline, following an almost immaculate chasing debut at Navan. Willie Mullins’ five-year-old is now 5-1 joint-favourite for the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival, the other joint-favourite being his stablemate Un De Sceaux, due to make his chasing debut at Thurles on Thursday.
“I thought he jumped super,” said Vautour’s jockey, Ruby Walsh. “He was absolutely amazing at the fourth-last, there was plenty of sunshine around, he could have launched through the wings [but] he danced in front of the take-off board, very, very clever. Loads of scope, only does what he has to do. I’d be happy.
“There’s not many horses, I suppose, like him. What he did last year was spectacular. He always rode like a chaser, to me, even when he won his maiden hurdle here. Everything was always a bit clean for hurdles and I thought he’d be a great chaser. That was good today, he has to build on that but it was good for the first day.”
