Flemensface affair displays folly of leaving buyers in the dark about failed drug tests

There is a stereotype surrounding the business of buying and selling horses that can make those who flog used cars for a living look like paragons of probity. So, the last thing the bloodstock game needs is to live down to expectations like has been the case with the unfortunate Flemensface.

The six-year-old has been banned from racing until August of next year on the back of a chain of events that saw a coach and horses driven through gaps in the industry gates.

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After Flemensface won a point-to-point at Knockanohill in Cork on March 12th of this year, he tested positive for clenbuterol. It is a commonly used substance in the treatment of respiratory issues but can’t be in the system on race day.

His point-to-point handler, Alan Ahern, whose yard was subject to an unannounced inspection by Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board officials 11 days after Knockanohill, was informed of the positive result and he declined an analysis of the B sample ahead of any hearing.

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What happened next, and legitimately so under the rules as they stand, was that Flemensface ran for new trainer Michael Griffin in a bumper at Cork on April 10th which the horse won.

Flemensface’s next public appearance was just 10 days later when he went through the ring at Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale and was bought by Grand National winning trainer Lucinda Russell for £100,000.

Six-figure sums for horses able to win a point-to-point and a bumper are not uncommon and since there was no information publicly available about a failed dope test, the sales process proceeded unimpeded.

That is until last week when the IHRB published details of their hearing and confirmed the horse’s disqualification from his point-to-point and bumper victories. It also outlined how Ahern’s handlers permit has been suspended for six months and he has to pay €1,250 in fines.

Flemensface got the biggest ban of all with a 14-month suspension backdated to his point-to-point “success”. Left with a horse not allowed to race, unsurprisingly his new owners have sent him back to the sales company.

That it has left a sour taste was underlined by comments from Russell’s partner, the former champion jockey Peter Scudamore, about the horse being purchased in good faith in a context of there being nothing to suggest any drugs issue was looming.

Flemensface hadn’t run for Russell but what if he had, and won? Or what if he’d got hurt in training? Scudamore also ventured that there looks to be nothing to prevent something like this happening again and that ultimately the whole sorry episode hardly inspires confidence in the Irish market.

Albeit there seem to be similar systemic gaps in Britain, and despite clichés about cute-hoor Irish horse tanglers pulling the wool over unsuspecting cross-channel eyes for generations, the point is well made.

If the onus was on those selling Flemensface to inform the sales company of the failed drugs test, then the six-figure purchase price underlined how potential reward for keeping shtum can outweigh any risk of telling the truth.

Even after centuries, conditions of sale contracts at public auction aren’t so bulletproof as to prevent foul ups that leave only solicitors in profit. But whether it’s through the sales ring or in private purchases, it can’t simply be a case of buyer beware when it comes to horses and their histories.

The IHRB has said it has no role in the buying and selling of animals. However, they do advise any trainer of a horse that has returned an adverse analytical to notify prospective owners should it be put up for sale.

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The regulator has also said that due process must be completed before restrictions can be placed on any horse running although exceptions have been made in the past. Nevertheless, in a business where plenty find it a lot easier to reach for their solicitor than any point of principle, staying out of the High Court is always an important consideration.

But there is a giant gap in the official fence if a horse can fail a dope test, with its trainer quickly accepting the findings, yet is still able to not only run and win but go through the sales process with no information publicly available about its regulatory status.

There is a gulf too between due process being carried out and leaving unsuspecting purchasers such as Russell in the dark. But for an industry and sport that saw sales at public auction here alone reach €215 million last year, it is one that needs to be bridged.

In recent years the regulator has been closing off all kinds of loopholes and this looks another one that need to be addressed. Stories such as Flemensface, and this is one that has been prosecuted relatively quickly, feed into widespread public prejudices.

There will always be those prepared to exploit gaps in the system. But in the fight against them, finding a balance between legal fairness and publicly making available basic information shouldn’t be too difficult a riddle to solve.

Something for the Weekend

Chindit is the more high-profile of Richard Hannon’s runners in Friday’s Challenge Stakes at Newmarket but the course and distance winner SHOULDHAVEBEENARING (3pm) relishes quick ground and comes here on the back of a fine third in the Foret on Arc day.

City of Troy will be the Aidan O’Brien two-year-old with most eyes on him in Saturday’s Dewhurst although later on the card the decision to hike GASPAR DE LEMOS (3.15pm) up to 10 furlongs for the Zetland Stakes looks significant and the Justify colt can follow up his maiden victory at the Curragh.