RACING Victoria Limited has hit back at allegations of widespread use of the drug erythropoietin (EPO) in the sport, made in The Sunday Herald Sun, labelling the claims as ''lacking substance'' and challenging unnamed sources to contact the integrity department with their evidence.
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RVL's general manager of integrity, Dayle Brown, said on Monday that claims that EPO use was rife had no basis and that drug testing on race day and out of competition was wide and varied, with more than 14,000 drug samples taken last season for just nine positive swabs.
''The allegation that our drug-testing regime is structured to minimise impact and distort statistics could not be further from the truth,'' he said. ''The state's premier trainers are indeed those most tested, because they have greater starter numbers and are winning more races.
''We would be naive to think that people haven't and won't push the boundaries to achieve an optimum result, but to suggest that EPO use is widespread is inappropriate given the evidence at hand and the testing in place.''
