ZILPATEROL

After first learning on 10 June that urine samples obtained from four horses trained by Mr P F Yiu, which raced at the Sha Tin and Happy Valley racemeetings on 2 and 5 June, respectively, had shown the presence of a prohibited substance, the Club has conducted a holistic investigation and has accelerated testing procedures to better understand the extent of the problem. In doing so, it was announced yesterday that urine samples from further eight horses trained by Mr Yiu, which were declared for today’s racemeeting, had also been found to contain the same prohibited substance. The prohibited substance concerned is Zilpaterol.

Dr T S M Wan, the Club’s Head of Racing Laboratory revealed late yesterday that the analysis of a certain registered feed product used by Mr Yiu and a number of other Trainers had been found to contain Zilpaterol which is not a listed ingredient of that product. Further, it was announced that in order to safeguard the interests of the Trainers concerned, their Owners and the racing public, a considerable number of urine samples were being obtained from horses in the care of these Trainers and declared to race at the Sha Tin racemeeting today. The relevant registered feed product was first imported by the Club into Hong Kong in January 2009 and has been used by Trainers since that time on a consistent basis without incident.

The ongoing investigation revealed today that a further product is likely to contain the same prohibited substance. In all, six horses were withdrawn today, including one as a precautionary measure, as it was unable to produce a urine sample this morning for testing.The causes of the recent incidents of contaminated feed, resulting in the withdrawal of runners, remains under investigation and no blame has been attributed.

The Club will work diligently to limit the extent of the current problem and explore all avenues to enhance quality control measures. There have been ongoing efforts to do so and these efforts will continue as a matter of high priority.

The Club will contact the manufacturers of the relevant feed products as a priority to notify them of developments in respect of the products. The Club will continue its investigations into all of these matters and will continue to sample horses in the care of a number of Trainers and in particular those horses which are entered for the Sha Tin racemeeting to be conducted this coming Sunday, 16 June.

A meeting will be scheduled with Trainers tomorrow to communicate immediate measures to best contain and minimise the problem from re-occurring in the future.

The Club routinely takes samples from all feeds, feed additives and supplements and screens them for the presence of prohibited substances. There are nearly 200 products regularly sampled and tested by the Club's Racing Laboratory, which has successfully identified contaminated feed and prevented a number of unwanted incidents over the last 10 years.

Looking at other racing jurisdictions the Club is thought to be unique in providing such a service on this scale. There are limits, however, to this testing regime due to the high volume of products and the impossibility to guarantee absence of contamination from batch-to-batch and within-batch variations of feed products.

Early this morning, Dr Wan informed the Stewards that urine samples taken yesterday from the following horses, trained by Mr P O’Sullivan, had shown the presence of Zilpaterol:-

Race 3: HAPPY WISDOM
Race 7: GRAND CHAMPION
Race 9: HOLYANGELHOLY

Dr Wan subsequently advised the Stewards that further pre-race urine samples obtained early this morning and which were analysed for the presence of Zilpaterol had shown the presence of that substance. Mr O’Sullivan was interviewed by the Stewards and advised of the findings. Having received the preliminary findings of Dr Wan in respect of the samples obtained from horses trained by him, Mr O’Sullivan requested for each of the 3 horses to be withdrawn from their respective racing events and accordingly the Stewards ordered the withdrawal of HAPPY WISDOM, GRAND CHAMPION and HOLYANGELHOLY from their respective races.

Prior to the running of Race 4, the Stewards were advised by Dr Wan that pre-race samples taken from a number but not all horses trained by Mr Y S Tsui this morning had also shown the presence of Zilpaterol. Accordingly, Mr Tsui requested for the following horses to be withdrawn from their respective races.

Race 4: TAI PO FORTUNE
Race 5: RECORD AGAIN
Race 11: DOUBLE GLORY

As a pre-race urine sample could not be obtained from DOUBLE GLORY by the required time and as such a clear sample was not available to be analysed by the Racing Laboratory, Mr Tsui requested for this horse to be withdrawn in the absence of such report from the Racing Laboratory. It was established that Mr Tsui does not use the same registered feed product which was being used by Mr Yiu, Mr O’Sullivan and a number of other Trainers. The Stewards, since receiving this advice from Dr Wan, have established a preliminary association between the two registered products. They are continuing their investigations into any commonality between the two feed products