Medication used ‘for horse’s welfare’

Saturday, July 04, 2009

MOONLIT Path finished sixth in the TurfTV Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle on February 19 at Huntingdon, after which she tested positive for tranexamic acid, an anti-bleeding drug, which contravened BHA Rule 200.

The race was won by stablemate Ravello Bay.

Henderson had admitted to three of the four charges he faced, but denied any wrongdoing in relation to Rule 200, which governs administering or attempting to administer a prohibited substance.

Henderson has always maintained the medication was used "in the interests of the horse’s welfare" – and not to improve performance.

The BHA’s public relations officer Paul Struthers said: "Breaches of Rule 200 are very serious, but what they have to take into account is the ways in which it can be breached.

"The treatment wasn’t recorded in the horse’s record-book and they concluded there was an attempt to hide the fact the horse had been given this substance."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, July 04, 2009