Winner for Eddery as Valleys is thrown out

More than 30 years after his first Group One success, Pat Eddery today gained his final big-race victory as a jockey as Balmont was promoted to first place in the Shadwell Stud Middle Park Stakes on the disqualification of Three Valleys.

The latter lost the race at a Jockey Club disciplinary panel hearing after failing a drugs test.

The disqualification is one of the most high-profile since routine testing began in British racing.

Three Valleys, trained by Roger Charlton, is one of the leading contenders for Classic honours this year after a two-year-old campaign in which he won two Group races – the Middle Park and the Group Three Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.

But after the colt had won the Newmarket feature, he tested postive for clenbuterol, a drug used under the trade name Ventipulmin to clear up a lung infection and aid normal breathing. Charlton maintained that he followed all the correct procedures in its administration.

In fact, Charlton said Three Valleys had been withdrawn from treatment nine days before the October 3 race, which was more than the six-and-a-half-day detection period laid down by international veterinary guidelines.

At today’s hearing, Charlton was found in breach of Rule 53 and fined £600.

With Three Valleys disqualified, the Jeremy Noseda-trained Balmont, ridden by the 11-times champion, was promoted to first place, with Holborn moved up to second and Auditorium third.

Clenbuterol has been at the centre of other failed tests recently, most notably when the Amanda Perrett-trained Tillerman was disqualified from second in the Queen Anne Stakes.

Jockey Club veterinary director Peter Webbon defended the existing recommendations over treatment with the drug.

“In 2000, the major racing countries got together and established that there was a six-and-a-half-day detection period for clenbuterol when it is administered orally,” he said.

“There is no reason to change that – it’s a fact.

“But how you turn that guideline into a withdrawal time is for trainers and their vets to work out.

“It is an important subtlety and a difficult call for trainers to have to make, especially as it clearly takes longer for some horses than others, especially when they have been given a relatively long period of treatment.

“Nobody is pretending that it is an easy decision to make. It is a difficult balancing act to keep your horse on the treatment for as long as possible and as close as possible to the race without breaching the rules.”