Al Zarooni lodges appeal against racehorse doping ban
Disgraced racehorse trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has lodged an appeal after being banned from the sport for eight years for doping.
His disqualification was announced following a disciplinary hearing on Thursday 25 April the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) headquarters in London.
The BHA today (Tuesday 7 May) confirmed that the appeal is against the “severity” of the penalty of eight years.
A date for the appeal hearing is yet to be set.
Eleven horses trained by Al Zarooni at Godolphin’s Moulton Paddocks yard tested positive for anabolic steroids ethylestranol and stanozolol during a “testing in training” programme on 9 April. The trainer later admitted to giving steroids to a further four horses who were not tested at the time. All 15 horses were suspended from racing for six months by the BHA.
Godolphin owner, and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, said he was “appalled and angered” to learn that one of his stables had “violated Godolphin’s ethical standards and the rules of British racing”.
Al Zarooni admitted he had made a “catastrophic error”.
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The drugs were given to the horses in mid-March. They were brought in from Dubai by Al Zarooni, where steroids are permitted in training, as long as they are not in the horse’s system on a raceday.
The BHA added that all of the horses that were under the care of Mahmood Al Zarooni have subsequently been tested and the results will be confirmed in due course.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.