Horseracing board rejects criticism of ‘leniency’ of fine on McGuinness over horse’s missed drug test

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has confirmed the Ado McGuinness-trained Laugh A Minute returned a negative drugs result following a sample taken prior to running in the Rockingham Handicap at the Curragh in June.

McGuinness was fined €750 by an IHRB referrals committee last week due to Laugh A Minute missing a post-race test ordered by the stewards at the Curragh.

At his hearing, the Group One-winning trainer suggested the incident was due to a “complete breakdown of communications on the day” and apologised for the confusion caused.

On Tuesday, the IHRB rejected criticism of the penalty as being lenient and a spokesman said: “The case was put to the referrals committee and that was the sanction deemed appropriate. There was a full regulatory sample taken from the horse prior to the race. The result of that is negative.”

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The missed test after Laugh A Minute finished out of the money in the Rockingham was called after the IHRB’s head of anti-doping, Dr Lynn Hillyer, spotted a “venepuncture with traces of blood” on the horse who had been selected for pre-race testing.

McGuinness explained to the stewards his own vet had given Duphalyte to the horse the previous evening as Laugh A Minute can be very nervous when travelling. The Co Dublin trainer was told a full regulatory sample would be taken from the horse after he ran.

However, Laugh A Minute was not presented for post-race sampling and a review of CCTV coverage showed McGuinness’s three runners on the day leaving the stable yard.

McGuiness told the referrals panel that he had failed to tell his staff that the horse would be tested after he ran but said he felt they would be informed by members of the IHRB veterinary or security team.

The trainer added he had to put saddles on his three runners in the one race so his own engagement with staff was minimal and he was then dealing with owners. He also said he didn’t return to the stable yard himself so never questioned if the test was carried out.

Separately, the IHRB also underlined on Tuesday that the onus is on trainers to send the right horse to the races.

It came on the back of two cases of mistaken identity resulting in the wrong horses having to be withdrawn from races at Ballinrobe on Monday evening.

The Eric McNamara-trained Janverlil was down to run in a hurdle race but microchip inspection by officials revealed the horse was in fact Cooleygorman.

Later the Francis Flood-trained bumper hope Burnt Feet was in fact an unraced three year old by Youmzain. Both cases were referred for further investigation.

“Without getting into the specifics because I don’t know the full details, there have been a number of cases recently and we would certainly encourage trainers to be conscious of this and use the microchip readers in their yards to make sure that this doesn’t happen.

“The onus is on the trainer to make sure the passports is in order and the microchip number is in order,” an IHRB spokesman.

Every horse has their microchip identity scanned on arrival at the races while horses making their debut also have their passports examined by veterinary officials. Winners are also scanned before the “winner alright” is called.

The IHRB spokesman also said two independent members could be appointed to the board of the regulatory body before the year is out.

Appointments of a finance director and a governance director were one of the recommendations by an Oireachtas Committee last November which reported after a series of hearings into anti-doping practises and procedures.

“Progress is being made and all being well we hope to be in a position to appoint independent board members in quarter four of this year,” he said.

The IHRB advertised for new board members in May.