Two trainers banned in UAE for cobalt breaches

Two trainers have been banned for a year by the Emirates Racing Authority after horses in their care were found to have above the permitted level of cobalt in post-race samples.

Musabbeh Al Mheiri was suspended for 12 months after Vivernus, winner of a Meydan maiden on January 14 this year, tested positive. The trainer pleaded guilty to the charge, which the ERA said was considered when handing out his sentence.

Also on Monday the ERA published the outcome of another inquiry involving Salmeen, who had finished second in a Purebred Arabian contest at Al Ain on November 19 last year.

His trainer Hassan Al Hammadi was found guilty of administering cobalt to the horse and was also suspended for a year.

The two are not the first this year to be charged with cobalt offences in the United Arab Emirates. In January Nacer Samiri and Jameel Salman were suspended for a similar length of time for breaches of the same rule.