Canterbury JC 21 September 2013 and South Canterbury RC 23 September 2013 (request for a ruling)
ID: JCA17210
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 21 September 2013
Meet Chair:
KHales
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2013/09/21
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
"Hand of Faith" will be scratched from Race 6 at the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on Saturday 21st September, 2013, as will "Force Majeure" from Race 7.
"Hand of God" will be scratched from Race 1 at the South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013 as will "Gem Lover" from Race 4.
Facts:
On the morning of Friday 20th September 2013, RIU Investigators RD Scott and Mrs K Williams called at the stables of Mr LS Faber, at the Ashburton Race Course.
"Out of Competition" blood samples were obtained from "Hand of Faith", "Force Majeure" which were nominated in Races 6 & 7 at the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on 21st September 2013, and "Hand of God" and "Gem Lover" which were nominated to start at South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013.
As a result of enquiries, Mr Faber advised that he had a substance in his vehicle at the stables.
He produced a small syringe that was labelled as "NeoRecormon, Epoetin beta(rch) 6000 IU/0.3 ml, 10114704, Exp 07 2014, Batch H0597H15.
Mr Andrew Grierson, Consultant Veterinarian, identified "NeoRecorman" as a recombinant DNA - derived human erythpoietin made from hamster ovarian cells. Medsafe NZ has it listed as S4 Prescription only medicine for human use in New Zealand and is distributed by Roche NZ. The substance was also identified by Mr Grierson as a "Prohibited Substance" under the Rules of Racing.
Mr Faber advised the Investigators that he had been given the product by Mr Calvin Fisher, one of his owners, some months ago. He recently made an inquiry of his veterinarian to ascertain if the product could be given to his horses. Mr Faber denied having administered any of the product to any horse in his stable. The product was recovered still in a sealed plastic wrapping.
Mr Scott confirmed that the substance is capable of affecting the speed, stamina and courage of a horse. Mrs Williams also advised the hearing that whilst the substance can be identified in a standard post race swab, the effects of the substance can also remain in a horse's system for some time after administration and not be detectable.
The substance is commonly known as "EPO".
In explanation, Mr C Fisher, told the hearing how he came to be in possession of the substance. He said it was given to him by one of his friends who is an invalid and who said, when they were having a discussion about the American cyclist, Lance Armstrong, that he (Mr Fisher's friend) administers the substance to himself 3 times per week. Mr Fisher wondered if the drug would be of assistance to another horse in Mr Faber's stables - "Dragon's Glory", which had been ailing for some time.
Mr Fisher said that he did not realise that the substance was a prohibited substance and most certainly did not realise the seriousness of having the substance in Mr Faber's racing stables. He said that he would never do anything to jeopardise Mr Faber's Trainer's licence.
Mr Faber said that his veterinarian had attended at his stables on the evening of Thursday 19th September to provide pre-race injections to "Force Majeure" and "Hand of Faith". He said that it was the first time he had called in his veterinarian for something like 8 months. Mr Faber said that he never injects his horses and if a horse does require an injection, that he always utilises the services of his veterinarian. Mr Faber was positive, that when the blood samples were laboratory tested that the results would be "clean". He said that there was only one vial of the substance and the seal was not broken.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Scott submitted that the horses, "Hand of Faith" and "Force Majeure" should be scratched from the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on 21st September 2013 and that "Hand of God" and "Gem Lover" should be scratched from racing at the South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013.
In essence, Mr Fisher and Mr Faber were of the view that it was not necessary to scratch the horses concerned because they had not had the substance administered to them and the laboratory results would be "clean".
Reasons for Decision:
At the outset, I wish to make it quite clear that we are not making a finding as to whether the Prohibited Substance, "NeoRecormon", (commonly known as "EPO") has been administered to the four horses named in the information, requesting a ruling (emphasis added).
Mr Fisher and Mr Faber have given a full explanation of the circumstances in which they came to in possession of the substance, and it may well be, (and we do not purport to bind a future Tribunal), that the possession of the substance was entirely innocent.
However, the fact remains that a Prohibited Substance was found in possession of a licensed trainer, and within the confines of his stables.
In the interests of the integrity of Racing, we do not believe we can take the risk of allowing the horses named in the information to start until the laboratory testing process has run its course.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
Dmitry: This section contains all JCA fields migrated from the raw data.
Data from these fields should be mapped appropriately to display amongst the standard fields above; please make note of any values below that are missing in the above standard fields but should be there.
hearingid: e9eff64bb6fc2cca592ac8daf2d4c244
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 20/09/2013
hearing_title: Canterbury JC 21 September 2013 and South Canterbury RC 23 September 2013 (request for a ruling)
charge:
facts:
On the morning of Friday 20th September 2013, RIU Investigators RD Scott and Mrs K Williams called at the stables of Mr LS Faber, at the Ashburton Race Course.
"Out of Competition" blood samples were obtained from "Hand of Faith", "Force Majeure" which were nominated in Races 6 & 7 at the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on 21st September 2013, and "Hand of God" and "Gem Lover" which were nominated to start at South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013.
As a result of enquiries, Mr Faber advised that he had a substance in his vehicle at the stables.
He produced a small syringe that was labelled as "NeoRecormon, Epoetin beta(rch) 6000 IU/0.3 ml, 10114704, Exp 07 2014, Batch H0597H15.
Mr Andrew Grierson, Consultant Veterinarian, identified "NeoRecorman" as a recombinant DNA - derived human erythpoietin made from hamster ovarian cells. Medsafe NZ has it listed as S4 Prescription only medicine for human use in New Zealand and is distributed by Roche NZ. The substance was also identified by Mr Grierson as a "Prohibited Substance" under the Rules of Racing.
Mr Faber advised the Investigators that he had been given the product by Mr Calvin Fisher, one of his owners, some months ago. He recently made an inquiry of his veterinarian to ascertain if the product could be given to his horses. Mr Faber denied having administered any of the product to any horse in his stable. The product was recovered still in a sealed plastic wrapping.
Mr Scott confirmed that the substance is capable of affecting the speed, stamina and courage of a horse. Mrs Williams also advised the hearing that whilst the substance can be identified in a standard post race swab, the effects of the substance can also remain in a horse's system for some time after administration and not be detectable.
The substance is commonly known as "EPO".
In explanation, Mr C Fisher, told the hearing how he came to be in possession of the substance. He said it was given to him by one of his friends who is an invalid and who said, when they were having a discussion about the American cyclist, Lance Armstrong, that he (Mr Fisher's friend) administers the substance to himself 3 times per week. Mr Fisher wondered if the drug would be of assistance to another horse in Mr Faber's stables - "Dragon's Glory", which had been ailing for some time.
Mr Fisher said that he did not realise that the substance was a prohibited substance and most certainly did not realise the seriousness of having the substance in Mr Faber's racing stables. He said that he would never do anything to jeopardise Mr Faber's Trainer's licence.
Mr Faber said that his veterinarian had attended at his stables on the evening of Thursday 19th September to provide pre-race injections to "Force Majeure" and "Hand of Faith". He said that it was the first time he had called in his veterinarian for something like 8 months. Mr Faber said that he never injects his horses and if a horse does require an injection, that he always utilises the services of his veterinarian. Mr Faber was positive, that when the blood samples were laboratory tested that the results would be "clean". He said that there was only one vial of the substance and the seal was not broken.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Scott submitted that the horses, "Hand of Faith" and "Force Majeure" should be scratched from the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on 21st September 2013 and that "Hand of God" and "Gem Lover" should be scratched from racing at the South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013.
In essence, Mr Fisher and Mr Faber were of the view that it was not necessary to scratch the horses concerned because they had not had the substance administered to them and the laboratory results would be "clean".
reasonsfordecision:
At the outset, I wish to make it quite clear that we are not making a finding as to whether the Prohibited Substance, "NeoRecormon", (commonly known as "EPO") has been administered to the four horses named in the information, requesting a ruling (emphasis added).
Mr Fisher and Mr Faber have given a full explanation of the circumstances in which they came to in possession of the substance, and it may well be, (and we do not purport to bind a future Tribunal), that the possession of the substance was entirely innocent.
However, the fact remains that a Prohibited Substance was found in possession of a licensed trainer, and within the confines of his stables.
In the interests of the integrity of Racing, we do not believe we can take the risk of allowing the horses named in the information to start until the laboratory testing process has run its course.
Decision:
"Hand of Faith" will be scratched from Race 6 at the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting on Saturday 21st September, 2013, as will "Force Majeure" from Race 7.
"Hand of God" will be scratched from Race 1 at the South Canterbury Racing Club's meeting on Monday 23rd September 2013 as will "Gem Lover" from Race 4.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: Rule 209 (1), Stipendiary Stewards and Investigators may scratch from a race, or declare ineligible to start in a Race until a specific condition is met, any horse on any reasonable grounds including but not limited to:, (c) that a horse has or may have had administered to it a Prohibited Substance
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: LS Faber - Class A Trainer, C Fisher (Part Owner)
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr RD Scott - RIU Investigator
raceid: 9d077ba71a6761e94afd7f990ff398fc
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 8f18aa4cdc87a45989413b5c5780e45c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/09/2013
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 21 September 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: KHales
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing