Emirates Racing Authority expect downturn in positive tests due to more rigorous standards

Trainer Ernst Oertel, right, was given a four-month ban after he was found guilty for administering ibuprofen. Lee Hoagland / The National

The Emirates Racing Authority (ERA) is confident that the number of positive results for prohibited substances last season will be reduced in the future.

Former UAE champion trainer Ernst Oertel, Majed Al Jahouri, Satish Seemar, Doug Watson and Dhruba Selvaratnam have all been found to have transgressed the ERA’s zero-tolerance policy this season.

Oertel received a four-month ban in December after horses in his care were found to have been administered ibuprofen. Al Jahouri will not be able to return to training in the UAE until the 2016/17 season after falling foul of the testing regimen three times.

The bulk of the infringements have resulted from a miscalculation by those administering therapeutic drugs, rather than performance-enhancing drugs, a study of violations shows.

An example of which was the 12-month disqualification of ERA-licensed veterinarian Dr Alejandro Echezaretta this month after he administered propoxyphene, an opioid that is used for the management of mild to moderate pain, to two horses in the care of Al Jahouri.

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The ERA has put in place a process of communication with trainers on all matters applicable to racing in the UAE and the regulatory body hopes that, in time, it will have a positive effect.

“Awareness among trainers and vets is growing in this regard and we would anticipate the positive testing trend to stabilise in future years then start to decrease,” said Andrew Holmes, the ERA spokesman.

“Fortunately, we are experiencing very few instances of positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs despite such high testing rates both inside and outside of competition.”

In the past two seasons, testing across the board in the UAE has increased by over 40 per cent, according to the ERA.

All winners are swabbed, and random testing is taken from the remaining horses in each race. During the 2014/15 season the ERA collected post-race samples from nearly a quarter of the 4,148 runners across the five racecourses.

In February, Al Jahouri was fined Dh50,000 after Raaziq was disqualified from fourth place in the HH The President Cup Prep Race at Abu Dhabi after carbon dioxide levels exceeded the ERA threshold.

Such levels of carbon dioxide in a horse’s system are commonly associated with “milkshaking”, a practice that has gained notoriety in the United States that involves administering sodium bicarbonate.

Raaziq was one of 2,603 pre-race tests for carbon dioxide, which is 62 per cent of all runners. Testing for carbon dioxide has increased by 38 per cent on the 2013/14 season.

As reported in January after several positive tests in Australia for cobalt, a stimulant for red-blood-cell production that can work in a similar way to EPO, the ERA has tested for the substance in thoroughbreds and Purebred Arabians since January last year.

The lack of a positive test for a substance more serious than carbon dioxide could be double-edged. On the one hand, it can be seen that racing in the UAE is clean, on the other that some trainers may be using substances beyond the scope of ERA testing.

“The ERA works closely with other authorities in order to share as much information and experience as possible in this regard,” Holmes said. “The role for any horse racing authority is to react swiftly to curb new, prohibited techniques creeping into the sport, whilst continually maintaining effective testing for the traditional methods.

“The ERA is fortunate to have at its disposal sufficient resources to enable it to vigilantly carry out the above duties.”

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