TASMANIA’S best galloper, Admiral, has returned a positive swab to a non performance-enhancing drug, leaving his respected Devonport trainer Barry Campbell baffled and stunned.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Campbell, who has been training for almost 40 years, said he had never used the drug lignocaine or even had it in his stables.
Lignocaine is a local anaesthetic mainly associated with dental surgery. It also comes in gel form and can be used by humans to treat bruising.
“I’ve never had any reason to use it and I think the last time I even heard of it was when Tierce returned a positive after winning the Golden Slipper in Sydney (in 1991),” Campbell said.
“I can only assume he’s picked it up from some form of (human) cross-contamination.
“To be honest, I haven’t been worried about it because I was sure the second test would come back negative, but now I’ll have to do some checking and find out what’s happened.”
Admiral returned the positive test after winning the $100,000 George Adams on Launceston Cup day.
His connections are likely to forfeit the $60,000 first prizemoney although, controversially, Tierce was not disqualified.
Campbell estimated that Admiral had been swabbed “about 30 times” in and out of competition and never previously shown an irregularity.
“It’s unfortunate that this has happened but I’ve done nothing wrong nor have the horse’s connections,” he said.
The swab result will not impact on plans to run Admiral at Flemington on Saturday or the $500,000 Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide on May 21.
Admiral has won 14 races and $647,000.
