Jockey Club & Irish Turf Club Concerned Over Morphine Positives

Published: 6 December 2002

Turf Club & Jockey Club express concern over morphine positives

The Turf Club and the Jockey Club are gravely concerned that in recent days over 20 samples in Ireland and Britain have screened positive for morphine, which is a prohibited substance. To date 8 of the samples have been confirmed as positive.

The contamination appears to have arisen from feed and tests are ongoing to identify the source of the problem.

6th December 2002

Notes for Editors:

1. The analysis of the ‘A’ sample is a two part process. Firstly a sample is subjected to general screening for a wide range of prohibited substances. The second part of the process is analysis which is specifically tailored for individual drugs. Until the confirmatory analysis of the ‘A’ sample has been completed the laboratory cannot confirm the presence of a particular agent in a sample.

2. All confirmed positive samples are then subjected to confirmatory counter analysis by independent laboratories. In relation to the tests involving morphine none of the ‘B’ samples have yet been sent away for further testing.