BHA admits it does not automatically test post-race samples

The week after the Racing Post reported the Turf Club does not test for the performance-enhancer cobalt, the BHA revealed it does not automatically test for the presence of the substance in post-race samples.

Unlike the Turf Club, the BHA can test for the substance –which increases red blood cells and improves metabolic efficiency, much like EPO – but it does not automatically run the test after a series of surveys carried out in recent years suggested British racing "does not have an issue with the use of cobalt as a doping substance".

There have been multiple high-profile cobalt cases in the racing world in recent years, and trainers Mark Kavanagh and Danny O'Brien are involved in contentious appeals following elevated cobalt readings in Australia, while in March Peter Moody walked away from the sport after incurring a six-month suspension for an unintentional cobalt violation.