French trainer David Cottin facing 12-month ban over case of four horses injected with steroid

Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer David Cottin has been handed a 12-month ban from the sport by France Galop stewards after being implicated in the use of the steroid Dexamethasone which was administered to four horses at his yard in the Chantilly suburb of Lamorlaye. 

During an inspection made by veterinary officials on December 3, 2022, prescriptions for Dexamethasone injections for four horses were discovered. 

Cottin admitted to a mistake in the withdrawal period of an injection given to Matilda Du Berlais on October 3, 12 days before she was pulled up in the Prix Orcada at Auteuil. 

The prescription for Duke Chop was dated the same day as he finished seventh in the Prix Finot at Auteuil on September 13, although Cottin claimed the substance had been administered after the gelding had run.

Two more horses, Para and Madara, were alleged to have been mistakenly identified in prescriptions for Dexamethasone injections, with Cottin insisting that his head lad had read the wrong name to a vet. 

Dexamethasone figures among the list of substances with a minimum 14-day withdrawal period before a horse can race, and all four procedures mentioned on the prescriptions were for injections into either joints or between vertebrae, procedures described in the stewards' reports as "complex" and suitable only for a vet to carry out. 

A key passage of the testimony was reported in a 15-page summary of the case and the judgement refers to an Italian vet identified only as 'Paolo'.

Easysland gave David Cottin a famous victory at the Cheltenham Festival when winning the 2020 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase Credit: Michael Steele (Getty Images)

During one passage of cross-examination, Cottin described Paolo as "much less expensive" than the veterinary practice with which he usually works, and went on to describe him as "talented" and able to "find problems others miss".

All four horses have been disqualified from their finishing positions in the races, which fell within the 14-day period after the injections. Cottin has 14 days to appeal against his ban as both trainer and owner. Those sanctions are due to start at the end of that two-week period but would not come into force until after any appeal hearing. 

The son of trainer Philippe Cottin, David was a successful jockey who came to prominence through his association with Long Run during the early part of the future Gold Cup winner's career in 2008-9. Cottin went on to be crowned France's champion jockey three times and won multiple Graded prizes aboard the likes of Rubi Ball, Gemix and Blue Dragon. He announced his retirement from the saddle with immediate effect in June 2017 at the age of just 27.

His rise through the training ranks has been a swift one, with Gessy Raiselle bringing the yard a third Grade 1 success when landing the Prix Maurice Gillois last November, while his horses earned almost €4 million in win and place prize-money in 2021, helping him to finish third in that year's title race. 

Cottin also enjoyed Cheltenham Festival success when Easysland won the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2020, beating Tiger Roll by 17 lengths, a result which was reversed when the pair met again 12 months later. 

He was fined €3,000 after Scare Coeur tested positive for a banned substance at Pau on January 8, 2022. 

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