Zarooni appeal will not have pleased Godolphin owner

Surprise was the immediate reaction of most racing fans when it was confirmed on Tuesday that Mahmood al-Zarooni had lodged an appeal against his eight-year ban from the sport for administering anabolic steroids to 15 horses at the Godolpin-owned Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket. For Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin’s founder, however, the response is more likely to have been a mixture of fury and frustration.

It is not just that it is all the more difficult to draw a line under the doping and attempt to move on while Zarooni’s appeal is pending, but the ex-trainer’s decision also reinforces the impression that this story now has a momentum of its own. Sheikh Mohammed has been ruler of Dubai since 1995, and he is used to being in charge and being obeyed, but the present situation refuses to bend to his will.

For those in search of answers to the many questions that remain about the Godolphin dopings, however, Zarooni’s decision to appeal must be welcome news. The proceedings will not be open to reporters, despite the huge public interest in the story, as the media can report only those hearings which deal with running and riding offences. As he seeks to mitigate his penalty, however, Zarooni will inevitably provide a much more detailed account of what went on at his stable a few weeks ago than anything we have received to date.

When the original case was heard by the British Horseracing Authority's disciplinary panel on April 25th, less than 72 hours after news of the doping broke, Zarooni did not have any legal representation. His only companion as he was tried, convicted, sentenced and, in professional terms, executed in the space of a few hours was Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, who helped Zarooni to fight his way through a wolfpack of photographers outside the BHA's offices, but looked all the while as though he would have preferred to let them tear Zarooni apart.

At his appeal, however, Zarooni will be represented by William Clegg QC, one of the most senior and formidable operators in the business, and Clegg will in turn be advised by two specialist solicitors. Zarooni and his team will also have had plenty of time to get their story straight.

The points that Zarooni and his advisors eventually decide to advance as mitigating factors will not be apparent until the appeal board publishes its findings, but this will be his one and only chance to pluck something from the wreckage of his career. There will be no reason to leave anything out, and every incentive to suggest that it would have been difficult to dope 15 horses at one of the biggest yards in Newmarket without at least a little of the blame being apportioned elsewhere. It will be up to the appeal panel to decide where the truth lies.

Unlike the original hearing, this one will not be done and dusted within a few days. The QCs on both sides will need to compare their diaries before a date can be set, and while the word from the BHA is that Zarooni’s appeal might be heard within the next two weeks, it is possible too that it will not even be this month. That will prolong the agony still further for Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin, as they prepare to send Dawn Approach, the strong favourite, to the Derby in early June.

In the long run, however, it would certainly be in racing’s best interests to gain as much insight as possible into Zarooni, what he did, how often he did it and, most importantly, why. His appeal may well be the last chance to do so.

Guardian