Irish international showjumper Jessica Kuerten yesterday vowed to "fight for the truth" following news that her horse Libertina had tested positive for two banned substances in September of last year.
The German-based showjumper, who issued a statement yesterday declaring that a sample taken from the mare at the Canadian fixture in Calgary had tested positive for traces of caffeine and theophylline, is refusing to pay a fine imposed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
"I'm fighting this to the bitter end," Kuerten told The Irish Times yesterday. "I'm absolutely furious because I'm 100 per cent sure I've done nothing wrong. I'm not going to let them hang me. If I don't fight this, it will just go on happening to other riders."
Kuerten, who held a press conference at a German show in Neumünster yesterday morning, said that the prohibited substances had come from horse feed that she was obliged to use in Calgary due to stringent regulations that ban the importation of feedstuffs into Canada.
The FEI has rated the case as a Grade 5 (low potential to affect performance) infringement. The Cian O'Connor Waterford Crystal case has been deemed Grade 1.
The federation informed Kuerten on February 10th that, under a new "fast-track" system for doping cases introduced on January 1st this year, it was imposing a fine of 250 Swiss francs (€162), plus a 500 Swiss francs administration fee (€323).
Kuerten has also been asked to forfeit prize money of 22,000 Canadian dollars (€13,700), which included a 12,500-dollar (€7,800) bonus for setting a new record of 2.12 metres in the six-bar competition with the Lady Georgina Forbes-owned mare, Libertina.
"My lawyer told me that it would be cheaper to pay back the prize money than fight the case," Kuerten said yesterday. Swiss lawyer Dr Ulf Walz, who has represented two high-profile German riders in Ulla Salzgeber and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, is handling the case on behalf of Kuerten.
Kuerten describes the fine as "personally insulting" and has requested confirmatory analysis on the horse's B sample be carried out at the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket.
"Asking for a B sample on caffeine is just a waste of time and definitely a waste of money," the head of the FEI's veterinary department, Dr Frits Sluyter, told The Irish Times yesterday. "More than 98 per cent will confirm the A sample."
The federation's secretary general was also surprised that Kuerten was requesting confirmatory analysis. "I've never heard of anyone going for a B sample for such a small thing as a caffeine positive," Dr Bo Helander said.
"It's normal to perceive caffeine as a contamination offence. It's nothing to get excited about. It's like a parking ticket. It's not an issue of guilt; it's just that's she responsible for her horse."