BHA urged to improve racecourse security as John Butler makes pig tranquiliser claim

The BHA has been urged to improve the quality of the CCTV used at its racecourses, particularly those holding races under floodlights, after trainer John Butler alleged one of his horses may have been deliberately doped with a potent pig tranquiliser before running.

The claim was made during a disciplinary panel hearing on Thursday after the Butler-trained Superseded tested positive for azaperone in a post-race urine test taken after he finished a distant last in a 5f handicap at Chelmsford on March 12, 2020.

Superseded had been sent off the 7-2 second favourite at Chelmsford, with the Racing Post in-running comment for the race stating: “Dropped to rear after 1f, ridden and lost touch over 1f out, eased inside final furlong, never going well.”

The BHA confirmed no suspicious betting patterns had been unearthed during its investigation, while no source for the azaperone – which is not licensed for use in horses or humans and only when prescribed by a vet in pigs – was identified by Butler or the BHA.

The exact level of azaperone in the post-race sample was not disclosed by the BHA during or when asked after the hearing, but was described as “significant” by Butler’s representative Rory Mac Neice.

Butler asserted in his submission to the panel that his horse was “got at”, and Mac Neice said: “The science points to administration of the substance before he ran.

However, Mac Neice said it had not been possible to identify who may have been responsible due to the CCTV being of “poor quality”.

He said: "The BHA's own investigator describes [the CCTV footage] as grainy and unclear, he said he could not identify the people in the footage.

“The imperative to ensure there is suitable quality CCTV footage to record what happens during night time dark hours seems to be a reasonable and sensible lesson to learn from this case. The CCTV footage is of such poor quality that we cannot identify who the individuals going in and out of the stable are.”

During its evidence, the BHA said Butler had employed “a known drug user” who had admitted to urinating in stables used by horses he was caring for. However, Mac Neice said there was no evidence the individual, who no longer works for the trainer, had ever taken pig sedatives and that it was difficult to envisage cross contamination via urine to lead to such a high level of azaperone in a post-race sample for the horse.

Mac Neice argued Butler should receive no more than a nominal fine, as had been the case for Mick Easterby when Ladies First had been found to have been deliberately doped in the racecourse stables at Newcastle in 2018.

James O’Mahony, chair of the disciplinary panel, said a nominal fine could not be imposed as a perpetrator had not been identified, instead fining Butler £500, reduced from £1,000 due to the extensive delay in the case being heard. The BHA apologised for the delay, blaming a Covid backlog. Superseded was also disqualified.

Separately, Butler was fined £1,000 by the disciplinary panel for failing to notify the BHA in time that a horse had been gelded, his fourth contravention of the rule.

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