10 Dec 2015 Disciplinary Panel - Other decisions

Micky Hammond

1. On Thursday 10 December 2015 the Disciplinary Panel of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) held an enquiry into an alleged breach of Rule (C)37.1 of the Rules of Racing by the trainer Micky Hammond. His horses PAY THE KING (IRE) ran in the JH Walter Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen on 12 April 2015, 13 days after it had received an intra-articular corticosteroid injection, Adcortyl, on 30 March 2015 and ROSAIRLIE (IRE) ran in the SIS At The Heart of Racing Handicap at Ripon on 8 May 2015, 11 days after it had received an intra-articular corticosteroid injection, Adcortyl, on 27 April 2015. This was administered by Hammond’s Veterinary Surgeon, Philip Jones, who had advised a withdrawal period of 10 – 12 days.

2. The Panel considered submissions from Hammond, who was in attendance. The BHA case was presented by Shruti Sharma.

3. On 28 May 2015, members of the BHA’s Veterinary and Equine Welfare teams had attended Hammond’s yard to conduct out of competition testing. Hammond’s NTF Medication Record Book recorded that PAY THE KING (IRE) had been administered the corticosteroid Adcortyl on 30 March 2015 and ROSAIRLIE (IRE) had received an intra-articular injection on 27 April 2015.  In the case of ROSAIRLIE (IRE) the substance was not specified in breach of Rule (C)13 which requires that “A record of any treatment administered to a horse under the care and control of a Licensed Trainer or Permitted Trainer must be kept by the trainer for a period of not less than one year. Each record must include at least the following information
Date of commencement and prescribed duration of any treatment,
Name of the horse,
Name of the treatment used,
Route and dosage per day of the treatment,
Name of the person administering the treatment, and
Name of the person authorising or prescribing the treatment”.

However, at a subsequent visit to Hammond’s yard on 7 July 2015, further copies of the yard medication records identified that ROSAIRLIE (IRE) had been administered Adcortyl. The medication records from Hammond’s Veterinary Surgeons confirmed the administrations to both horses.

4. Schedule (B)3 paragraph 11A (which sets out the requirements for a horse to run in a race in Great Britain) stipulates that “The horse must not have been administered any intra-articular corticosteroid on the day of the race or on any of the 14 days before the day of the race in which the horse is declared to run”. The administrations to PAY THE KING (IRE) and ROSAIRLIE (IRE) had taken place on 30 March 2015 and 27 April 2015 respectively. As a result, the BHA had stated that both horses should be disqualified from the Race under Rule (A)74, Ground 4.

5. Hammond was interviewed on 7 July 2015 by a BHA Investigator. He had stated that he may not have been aware of the Rule in question and had only found out about the Rule when he had been contacted by a BHA Investigator on 25 June 2015. The Panel noted that the following documentation would have been available to Hammond (who is a NTF registered member):
a) BHA notice on 14 day Stand Down from Racing published in November 2014;
b) The notice on the NTF Muse website on 21 November 2014; and
c) NTF published newsletter in December 2014.

6. The Panel also noted that copies of the yard medication book were taken on 28 May 2015 and 7 July 2015. The entries for ROSAIRLIE (IRE) on 27 April 2015 and two other horses at the yard had been compared. It was evident that the recording of the name of the treatment used and the name of the person administering the treatment had only been completed between 28 May 2015 and 7 July 2015. Given that the treatment was administered to ROSAIRLIE (IRE) on 27 April 2015 and the two other horses prior to 28 May 2015, Hammond was in breach of Rule (C)13.

7. The Panel found Hammond in breach of Schedule (B)3 paragraph 11A and imposed a fine of £1,000. For the breach of Rule (C)13 the Panel fined him £300 as it felt that due to the notes left on the original medication records there had been no attempt to conceal the treatment administered and that his Veterinary Surgeon had failed to fill in the records on the day. PAY THE KING (IRE) was disqualified from the race under Rule (A)74 Ground 4, and ROSAIRLIE (IRE) was disqualified from the race placing TUSCAN GOLD first, RUMBLE OF THUNDER (IRE) second, ARCAMANTE (ITY) third, KOCICIL (IRE) fourth, LADY YEATS fifth and ERICA STARPRINCESS sixth.

 

Brian Ellison

The Disciplinary Panel of the BHA held an enquiry on Thursday 10 December 2015 to consider whether or not Brian Ellison, a licensed trainer, had committed a breach of Rule (C)31.4 of the Rules of Racing, in respect of the skin scrapings taken from OLD STORM (IRE) at Huntingdon on 21 November 2015 subsequently being reported by the Animal Health Trust as positive for ringworm.

The Panel noted that the skin scrapings had been ordered to be taken from OLD STORM by the Stewards at Huntingdon because of Ellison’s failure to produce a Certificate of Non-Contagiousness from his Veterinary Surgeon on the day.

Having considered the evidence, the Panel found Ellison to be in breach of Rule (C)31.4 and imposed a fine of £750 upon him.

 

 

Notes to editors:

1. The Panel for the hearings was: Hopper Cavendish (Chair), Celina Carter and Roger Bellamy.