BHA: Sweden Exempt from Pre-Race Testing

The British Horseracing Authority May 12 announced the addition of Sweden to the list of racing nations whose runners in Great Britain are exempt from pre-race sampling requirements.

The other countries that already form part of this group are Ireland, France, and Germany due to key aspects of their anti-doping policies reflecting those of the BHA. All other international runners are required to be sampled prior to running in Britain

As part of the BHA's revised equine anti-doping policy first announced in June 2014, it was confirmed that visiting runners from Ireland, France, and Germany would be exempt from the requirement of being in Britain 10 business days in advance of their intended race in order to be sampled, the BHS said. Runners from these jurisdictions are instead treated akin to British runners and sampled as per the BHA's standard testing policy.

Following confirmation that the rules of Svensk Galopp, Sweden's horseracing regulatory body, together with Sweden's national legislation meet the BHA's anti-doping requirements, Sweden has been added to this list of exempt nations.

There is currently one Swedish-trained horse entered for Royal Ascot, Volatile, who is entered in the Commonwealth Cup (Eng-I), to be run on June 19.

The BHA said it is continuing to develop its protocol for sampling international runners from outside of Ireland, France, Germany, and Sweden. The preference is for horses to be in Britain at least 10 business days in advance of running to facilitate sampling, but the BHA has been working with connections, racecourses and the International Racing Bureau to facilitate approved sample collection overseas. In such circumstances, horses from abroad are being sampled on a case-by-case basis via a BHA-approved process.