Gosden 'Let Down' After Royal Line Disqualification

John Gosden has urged the British Horseracing Authority to adopt a "collegiate approach" and work with trainers to help prevent a repeat of the circumstances that on Dec. 22 led to Royal Line being stripped of his third-place finish in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (G2) in October last year after the anti-inflammatory Triamcinolone Acetonide was found in a pre-race sample. 

TCA is a synthetic corticosteroid commonly used in equine practice and can be administered to horses in training, but it cannot be present in their system on raceday.

A mandatory 14-day stand-down period after TCA has been administered is in place but the BHA warns that the withdrawal period may be longer than the minimum stand-down period as prescribed by the rules and that the two should not be confused. The BHA does not have a published detection time for TCA.

A BHA judicial panel on Tuesday heard that Royal Line received 15 milligrams of Adcortyl, containing TCA, in both hind fetlocks to reduce inflammation on Oct. 2, as confirmed by Gosden's veterinary records, 17 days before the Long Distance Cup.

While accepting the results of the pre-race sample, Gosden wanted to make clear that "we're not talking about anything underhand or anything where we've tried to be smart a**** and cheat the rules" and that he felt "exceptionally let down by this process" having worked to a 14-day withdrawal period for TCA for many years.

Referring to his pre-submitted statement to the panel, he said: "The BHA does not provide detection time for intra-articular corticosteroid because it recognizes the difficulty in establishing reliable ones.

"It abdicates almost all responsibility in this matter, leaving vets at the coalface with the lingering feeling that they are in effect conducting clinical trials for the regulator and suffering the consequences along with their clients of any adverse analytical finding.

"TCA is the most commonly used intra-articular corticosteroid in the equine practice. It has been shown in peer review studies to have therapeutic protective effects on articular cartilage—it does not destroy the cartilage."

Gosden added: "I'm very conservative with my use of any medication and the horse's welfare is paramount. I followed all guidelines and advice and the negative publicity from this matter reflects badly on the trainer, the highly respected Newmarket Equine Hospital practice, and inevitably damages the image of racing. I feel exceptionally let down by this process."

Presenting the BHA's case, Charlotte Davison outlined that the BHA does not have a published detection time for TCA but advice has been provided on the intra-articular administration of such substances in both 2015 and 2017, with the introduction of a mandatory 14-day stand-down period in 2015.

She added: "The stand-down period must not be confused with the withdrawal time of the particular drug used as recommended by the treating veterinary surgeon. For certain corticosteroid, the withdrawal time may be longer than the minimum stand-down period as prescribed by the rules."

While chairman Philip Curl made it clear that the three-strong panel did not consider there to be anything "underhand" in what had happened in respect of Royal Line, under the rules of strict liability, Gosden was fined £1,000 and the horse disqualified, with full written reasons to follow.  

Gosden added: "What I'm really asking is that the BHA, who are doing a fine job of policing our racing, give us more help on this matter.

"There's no point recalibrating (testing) machines and literally just trying to trap us all. Something we've done for 25-30 years is suddenly no longer correct. I do feel I'm walking in a minefield now.

"I fully accept the findings, he had it in his system, but I do worry very much for our future as to quite how we're meant to manage this situation. I would prefer a more collegiate approach with the BHA where we work together."