Racing: New doping case baffles Jockey Club

A site inspection at Wetherby may offer a clue as to how the latest doping incident to hit racing was carried out. Jockey Club investigators are to visit the West Yorkshire track as they try to unravel the case of Henrietta Knight's Hachty Boy, who has tested positive for acetylpromazine after running at the course on 23 May.

An intriguing element of Hachty Boy's story is that even though traces of the "stopping" drug were found in his system, he still managed to win his novice chase. An early theory is that whoever used the drug might have been disturbed and unable to administer the full amount.

The pipes and deerstalker men of Portman Square will not, according to the Wetherby clerk of the course, Christopher Tetley, find fault with the security systems on track. "The first I heard about this was when I read it in the paper today but I wouldn't think they will find anything wrong," Tetley said yesterday. "The security staff were definitely in place, the televisions were working and the stable manager stayed on the premises overnight.

"We took all the normal precautions but there is always a way if people want to do something – I'm told you can administer this stuff just by giving a horse a pat."

Acetylpromazine is the outlawed drug which has been detected in several recent doping scandals, including the case of Ashgar, who was got at at Plumpton in March.

Final confirmation that ACP continues to be used in racing is likely to come following a second analysis, to be conducted in Hong Kong, on the sample given by Hachty Boy.

"Because ACP is involved we are obviously concerned, though neither the performance of the horse nor the betting on the race suggest that the positive test came as a result of an attempt to stop the horse," John Maxse, of the Jockey Club, said. "Nothing is being discounted. It's a bit of a mystery. So far we have been unable to detect a source or a motive for the horse to test positive for ACP."

Miss Knight, who trained Best Mate to win the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, added: "He is a very nervous horse. He is nervous of needles and suspicious of strangers, particularly strange men, so whether he didn't get the full amount I don't know.

"He might eat something but he certainly wouldn't be able to be injected. I wasn't at the races but I'm told the horse looked a million dollars in the paddock, very much on his toes, which is normal."

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes may go ahead on Saturday without any representation from Ballydoyle. Aidan O'Brien, who won the race last year with Galileo, has left in the comparatively lightweight pairing of Bach and Della Francesca and even they are by no means certainties to take the Berkshire air.

Bach would be tackling the mile and a half trip for the first time after showing much over his best form over shorter distances, while Della Francesca, whose best run came when winning the Group Three Gallinule Stakes at Leopardstown, has already run over this longer trip when a nine-length sixth behind stablemate High Chaparral in the Irish Derby. Both hold an alternative, domestic engagement in the Group Three Meld Stakes at the Curragh on the same day.

"They are both good ground horses and that will be a factor as to whether they go to Ascot or stay at home for the Curragh," O'Brien said yesterday.

Officials at Ascot have been watering for the last two days in an effort to ensure the going is no faster than good to firm for the weekend. How far they have succeeded will become known today when representatives from Godolophin will walk the track to determine whether conditions are adequate for Sakhee, who will not be risked on hard ground.

The absence of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner would be a further blow to an event which is already minus a credible challenger from Ireland.

n Prince Ahmed Salman, who became the first Arab owner to win the Kentucky Derby when War Emblem took the Run For The Roses two months ago, died of a heart attack on Monday aged 43. Salman, who lost his brother Fahd to a heart attack almost exactly a year ago, was the man behind the Thoroughbred Corporation. Other good horses to run in their green and white colours were Point Given, Royal Anthem and the 1999 Derby winner, Oath.