Trainer indicted on charges of doping, organised crime and forgery

Trainer Andrea Marcialis was one of nine people arraigned before a judicial tribunal in Senlis on Thursday, and faces criminal indictments on grounds of doping horses, organised crime and forgery.

Marcialis already faces a series of suspensions as both a trainer and owner until April 2025, after being found guilty by France Galop stewards on three counts of doping and two further cases of running a shadow training operation, all but six months of which remain open to an appeal.

The Italian-born trainer was one of 14 people taken to a police station in the Paris suburb of Nanterre following raids led by the Police des Jeux (gaming police), which resulted in the seizure of doping products, €8,800 in cash and the removal of three racehorses.

Details of the indictments - which police say concern at least 31 races in which doped horses were entered - were released late on Thursday by the office of public prosecutor for the Oise department, Jean-Baptiste Bladier.

The police investigation into Marcialis began in August 2020 and was triggered by initial reports from France Galop surrounding an incident at Saint-Cloud racecourse on August 31 2020.

Trainer Andrea Marcialis already faces suspension until April 2025 after a series of disciplinary breachesCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

At least four horses cited in the France Galop disciplinary cases involving Marcialis centred on the injection of corticosteroids, used in the treatment of inflammation and joint pain. In delivering their verdict, stewards expressed concern that "repeated and automatic" use of such medication constituted a serious horse welfare issue as well as a breach of the doping rules.

Marcialis was granted a French training licence in March 2017, having previously worked in Milan with his father Antonio.

He has quickly risen through the ranks and scored his maiden Group race success when Sestilio Jet landed the Prix Saint-Georges at Longchamp in May 2019.

Further success followed with the exploits of Way To Paris, who scored a first Group 1 for the stable in last July's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, while Marcialis finished sixth in the trainers' standings last season, earning almost €2 million in prize-money.

Marcialis was banned initially for six months by France Galop for his part in a shadow training operation run by his sister Elisabetta at the yard of Jean-Claude Napoli, a suspension that was subsequently upheld by an appeals panel.

During both hearings Marcialis and his sister were portrayed as having taken advantage of Napoli's advanced age to manipulate him into going along with the scheme.

Napoli died last month at the age of 83.

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