Racing shock as Classic-winning trainer given suspended 12-month ban after horse tests positive for cocaine

TRAINER Ed Dunlop has been slapped with a 12-month disqualification – suspended for the next year – after one of his horses tested positive for COCAINE.

The Classic winner, who trained legendary racehorses like Ouija Board and Snow Fairy, was also fined £1,000 after Lucidity produced a sample which contained a metabolite of the Class A drug at Brighton last year.

Ed Dunlop was given a 12-month suspended sentence for the cocaine positivePA:Press Association

The source of the positive test remains unclear and officials at the BHA said they attach no blame to the trainer, who has never previously had a positive test for any of his runners in Britain over the last 30 years.

Dunlop, 56, can continue to train and saddle runners from his Newmarket stable, and the disqualification will only be triggered if another horse tests positive over the next 12 months.

During a two-hour disciplinary hearing at BHA HQ in London, the panel were told one of Dunlop’s employees had admitted using cocaine twice last year.

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But neither occasion were close to the time four-year-old filly Lucidity finished second on July 4, 2023. The horse has now been disqualified from its race.

Dunlop, who has trained 39 winners so far this season, said he will introduce random drug testing of his staff, and there are now wider discussions about introducing drugs testing throughout Newmarket’s racing workforce.

His solicitor, Rory Mac Niece, had been pushing for a six-month suspended ban and was shocked at the panel’s decision.

He told the Racing Post: “The rules have got to enable appropriate and fair disposal of cases and it seems to me these rules don’t.

“What this means is that somebody who has been a rule-taker for 30 years, who has an impeccable record, who clearly adds to the industry, far from being a threat to it, has a sword of Damocles hanging over his head for 12 months. What does that achieve?”

This is not the first time a racehorse has shockingly tested positive for cocaine, with the risk of contamination from people who use the drug quite high.

Two horses tested positive for cocaine in Australia last August, while another star horse Down Under, End Assembly, tested positive just days after winning a £200,000 race.

More to follow…