Ed Dunlop thankful for support and planning changes in wake of BHA ruling

Ed Dunlop hopes the rules can be reviewed after the British Horseracing Authority disqualified him for 12 months – the entirety of which is suspended – after a metabolite of cocaine was found in a sample taken from one of his horses.

The hearing concerned a filly named Lucidity, who finished second in a Brighton handicap in 2023 and was later found to have the substance in her system following a post-race test.

The source of the substance is unknown and the BHA did not suggest any wrongdoing on the part of Dunlop, who has trained in Britain for 30 years and has never previously returned a positive test result with any of his horses in this jurisdiction.

Rory Mac Neice, representing Dunlop, argued for a lower penalty, but the independent disciplinary panel countered that the rules state a positive test for a Category A substance, such as cocaine, must necessarily result in a disqualification.

Dunlop’s one-year disqualification is suspended, meaning he is able to continue training as usual and would only be interrupted if he were to be found in breach again within a 12-month period. In addition Lucidity was also disqualified from the Brighton race and the trainer was fined £1,000.

“It’s been hanging over our heads for over a year and it’s taken the BHA an awful long time to come to a conclusion, this was the second enquiry concerning it,” Dunlop said.

“As it was a Category A drug there is very little room for manoeuvre so it has been agreed that it will be a one-year suspended disqualification, plus the fine.

“That is the outcome, and though no one has any notion of where the substance came from I am ultimately responsible for what happens to the horse.

“It’s difficult, it’s difficult on me and on my owners, who’ve been very supportive. People generally only read the headlines and that’s natural, that’s the world we live in.

“Personally I do feel the rule needs looking at, I had no room for manoeuvre because of the class of the drug and it’s been difficult, but we will carry on and put it behind us.

“It will certainly make us think more, we are going to introduce random drug testing amongst my staff, which more trainers are doing and other industries do too. It will change how we operate our business.”