|
From SCMP (3-1-2007)
Lui, Yiu horses in positive drug tests
Trainers to face separate inquiries once 'B' sample results are returned
by ALAN AITKEN
Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards yesterday announced that trainers Francis Lui Kin-wai and Ricky Yiu Poon-fie will face separate inquiries into horses that returned positive drug tests late last month.
The Yiu-trained Elfhelm returned a positive to the anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone following his win at Sha Tin on December 26, while Lui's Charming Speedy tested positive to a synthetic corticosteroid when a beaten favourite on December 23.
The Jockey Club's executive director of racing, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, would offer no comment on the cases yesterday, as the findings have yet to be confirmed by independent testing of the unused, or "B" portion, of the samples.
"These matters are now the subject of ongoing inquiries so it would not be right to make any comment at this time, except to say that both trainers have asked for the B-sample tests to be done at the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory in Sydney and we will wait to see those results before proceeding further," Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
Like all race winners, Elfhelm had blood and urine samples taken and tested following his win, with the club's chief racing chemist, Terence Wan See-ming, reporting to the stewards yesterday that the urine sample had been found to contain phenylbutazone and its metabolites, gamma-hydroxyphenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone.
The blood analysis confirmed the finding of phenylbutazone, a drug used to reduce pain and soreness.
In October 2002, trainer Gary Ng Ting-keung was fined HK$75,000 over his responsibility to produce Elephant Dance drug-free for racing after that horse had returned a positive to phenylbutazone. :kkk:
Likewise, as a beaten 3-1 favourite, Charming Speedy was routinely urine tested on December 23 when he finished ninth to Namjong Goodluck.
Wan has advised that the sample contained triamcinolone acetonide and its metabolite, hydroxytriamcinolone acetonide.
Triamcinolone acetonide is a synthetic corticosteroid substance sometimes used in situations where a lasting corticosteroid effect is required, such as arthritic conditions or joint problems.
Both matters are now adjourned to a date to be fixed once the B-sample results are returned.
Engelbrecht-Bresges, meanwhile, said yesterday that the B-sample results for Australian sprinter Takeover Target, which were also tested by the ARF Laboratory in Sydney, may be known by the end of this week.
The 2006 Global Sprint Challenge champion, Takeover Target was a race-day withdrawal by stewards from the Hong Kong Sprint on December 10 after testing positive to the banned steroid substance 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate.
If the B-sample results confirm the positive test, Takeover Target's trainer Joe Janiak faces the prospect of a hefty fine as well as having to return to the Jockey Club travelling expenses incurred for the horse to come to Hong Kong for the international races.
The adjourned inquiry into the running and handling of Easy Punch at Sha Tin on December 23 will be reconvened by the racing stewards at Happy Valley at 3pm tomorrow.
|
