Richard Fahey cautioned after filly's positive test for painkiller

Richard Fahey was cautioned by a disciplinary panel on Friday after one of his horses tested positive for a prohibited raceday substance in the latest ‘mystery’ positive case brought by the BHA.

International Girl tested positive for a metabolite of the painkiller tramadol after running at Nottingham on May 8, 2021 when she finished 12th of 13, with investigations conducted by the BHA and Fahey unable to determine the source of the medication.

This year, trainers Gordon Elliott and John Butler also faced disciplinary panel hearings after positive tests for lidocaine and azaperone respectively were returned on their horses. In each case, a source for the positive tests could not be determined.

It emerged during Friday’s hearing that the BHA had informed Fahey of International Girl’s positive test prior to conducting out of competition testing on the filly and others at the trainer’s yard. An appointment was made to visit the yard ten days after Fahey was informed, with this noted in the yard’s diary.

Disciplinary panel chair Tim Charlton KC stated he was “not aware of any instance” where this had happened previously, with inspections normally conducted unannounced. BHA representative Christina Courquin said it had been due to International Girl having an entry to run, which she subsequently did not take up, and inspectors not being available to conduct testing on the horses before that point.

Nottingham: International Girl ran down the field at the track in May 2021Credit: Getty Images/Pool

Following the out of competition testing on June 14, 2021, International Girl tested positive again for tramadol. She raced five days later at Redcar, when she was not tested pre- or post-race, while a third test conducted on June 29 at Musley Bank Stables returned a negative test. All other horses tested at Fahey’s yard on each occasion returned negative results.

The BHA sought to portray the positive tests as a result of “significant failings” at Fahey’s yard. This included an investigating officer being told that some male members of staff had been seen to urinate in stables and reports of staff using recreational drugs.

This was queried by Charlton, who said: “All of this is assuming that for a positive test there was use of drugs plus peeing in a box. It would be good to know what [Fahey] should have been saying to people at what time. Was it when they were inducted, or did he need to say on Christmas Eve each year, ‘Don't pee in the stables’? I'm not sure what reasonable precaution the BHA says should have been in place.”

Rory Mac Neice, representing Fahey, said the trainer had been praised for a “high level of professionalism” by the BHA at previous stable inspections, and had voluntarily introduced measures such as an alcohol and drugs policy. He added that while malicious administration of tramadol could not be ruled out, Fahey could not think of anyone who would want to do it and there had been no suspicious betting patterns when the horse ran.

Summing up the panel's decision, Charlton said the position put forward by the BHA was “the product of hindsight” and, due to no prior breaches by the trainer, a caution was appropriate. International Girl was disqualified from the Nottingham race.

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