The chairman of the International Equestrian Federation's (FEI) medication sub-committee, Dr Andrew Higgins, has said that describing the quantities of the drugs which had been found in the blood sample from Cian O'Connor's horse, Waterford Crystal, as "trace" and "minute" is a "red herring", write Lynne O'Donnell & Grania Willis, Equestrian Correspondent
Meanwhile, a leading barrister - a senior counsel with a particular knowledge of sports law - has said he believes the case against Cian O'Connor will fail on procedural grounds.
And the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Mr Pat Hickey, said he believes there is a good chance of a successful appeal against Cian O'Connor losing his gold medal.
Mr Hickey told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that the continuing controversy over O'Connor's horse was damaging the image of Irish sport. But he said there was a good chance of a successful appeal against the loss of the gold medal following controversy over the handling of the samples.
Dr Higgins told The Irish Times yesterday: "If it's in the blood, then it has been used recently. If it's there, it's there. It is two or three months since the sample was taken so there would be some decay and it would have been in greater concentrations at the time."
Dr Higgins also expressed alarm at what appeared to be widespread use of banned substances in horses.
Referring to the news that Waterford Crystal's B blood sample had tested positive for the human anti-psychotic drugs, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, he said: "You're talking about a drug that is anti-aggression and anti-hostility; it can in no way be considered a sedative . . . they are banned substances, so the vet should also have questions to answer."
Meanwhile, the barrister familiar with sports law, who did not wish to be identified, said that despite the confirmed positive result, he believes the case against O'Connor will fail.
"If I was defending I would be very confident that the FEI cannot now prove the case," he said. "Cian O'Connor was notified of a positive urine test and, following that notification, he exercised his right to have the B sample analysed.
"Due to the loss of the B sample urine, that cannot now take place. It's only if he was notified of a positive A blood test that the procedure for testing the B sample blood comes into play.
The testing and prosecution had to be conducted within the rules, so unless it could be shown that what was done was within the rules, "the prosecution must fail".
The showjumper's solicitor, Mr Andrew Coonan, confirmed yesterday that no information on the A blood sample was forthcoming from the FEI, despite repeated requests.
"The information that we got from the federation was that on analysis, the urine sample had tested positive.
"All the documentation furnished to us related only to urine; there has never been anything about the blood."