O'Briens, Coolmore Sue over '20 Arc Contamination Drama

Aidan O'Brien and his son Donnacha are among 10 plaintiffs associated with Coolmore and Ballydoyle who this week began the process of suing the animal feed supplier Glanbia over the contaminated feed controversy on Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) weekend in 2020.

After it emerged that five horses—none of whom was trained by the O'Briens—had tested positive in France for Zilpaterol, Gain Equine Nutrition, which is owned by Glanbia, issued a statement to trainers on Oct. 2, 2020, advising them not to feed their products to horses.

Zilpaterol is unlicensed in Europe but used elsewhere, including in the U.S., to promote weight gain in cattle.

The directive from Gain prompted the O'Brien family to change their feed supplier immediately and ultimately withdraw 11 intended runners from the ParisLongchamp card, including four intended starters in the Arc, Europe's most prestigious flat race. Two of the 11 were trained by O'Brien's eldest son Joseph, who is not believed to be party to the legal proceedings that began this week.

Mogul , Japan , Sovereign , and Serpentine , all trained by Aidan O'Brien, were taken out of the €3 million showpiece, the Investec Derby (G1) hero Serpentine having been supplemented for the race at a cost of €72,000.

While none of the O'Briens' runners returned a positive test for Zilpaterol on the track—it later emerged that LGC laboratory, which is used by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board and the BHA, does not test to such a sensitive level as the French lab, Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques, for the substance—all of the samples that the Ballydoyle handler sent directly to LCH returned positive.

On that basis, O'Brien and his sons withdrew all 11 horses from Longchamp's card and formal legal proceedings began May 24, with 10 companies associated with Coolmore and Ballydoyle initiating proceedings against Glanbia Foods Ireland.

The Zilpaterol contamination was traced to one of Gain's ingredients, molasses, which was supplied by ED&F Liquid Products. It has been reported that in March Glanbia took legal action against ED&F as a result.

Glanbia claimed the issue cost the company €9 million. The Irish Times reports that ED&F did not object to Glanbia's legal action against it being admitted to the Commercial Court, the fast-track division of the High Court that handles business disputes.