Stewards clarification on Mr.Milan Luthria's resignation as a Steward
Posted on - 23 Mar 2015
This has reference to the press statement on Mr. Milan Luthria’s resignation as a Steward of the Club. The Stewards of the Club would like to clarify as under:-
The Stewards deliberated on the running and riding of BE SAFE and by a 6/1 majority decided only to caution Jockey Suraj Narredu for his ride on BE SAFE. The Stipendiary Stewards were of the view that Suraj Narredu had ridden an unsatisfactory race on BE SAFE. The Stewards of the Club did not agree with this view. It was felt that the winner was allowed to go too far to the front. There have been several cases where Jockeys have let the pacemaker go on, one such example being Noble Eagle in the Indian Derby. Last year three time champion jockey in UK Richard Hughes in the Indian Oaks, lost a certain race on Circle Of Bliss by 3/4 of a length to Isn't She Special. When Jockeys make such errors, it would be improper to punish one individual.
A horse trained by Faisal Abbas reported positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid at less than 5 ng/ml. The trainer had no previous offence in his 14 year training career and also the Club was unable to conclusively prove that the trainer had administered the drug. In conclusion the Stewards by a majority decided to hold the trainer vicariously responsible under the rules and being his first offence of his career punished him for 120 days. The maximum punishment prescribed under medication rules for a first time offender for vicarious responsibility for a Class I infringement is 90 days. Therefore the Stewards decided by majority that 120 days was adequate. In addition the norms of punishment have various grades for substances. The lowest gets only a fine and the highest 90 days suspension. Stages increase by 30 days. As Boldenone is not in any grade, and the highest is 90, he was given 120 days. Though the Turf Authorities of India have been discussing a two year suspension to the trainer whose horse comes positive for anabolic steroid/sex hormones, all the Turf Authorities have not implemented this rule; in fact some of the Turf Authorities still have anabolic steroid/sex hormones in Class III.
Forensic Laboratories world over have developed techniques which can now identify the presence of drugs at almost one trillionth of a gram. Hence it is incumbent upon All Racing Authorities to investigate and ascertain the causes of the presence of prohibited substances. Contamination in manufacture is also a cause. Few years ago there were couple of such cases of feed contamination at the RWITC Ltd. All Racing Authorities, the world over, have reporting levels which cover such exigencies of contamination. We do not. One is under preparation by the 6 Turf Authorities and which should ease this problem soon.
It has now become important as part of our investigations to test all feeds, supplements etc. that are being fed to a horse. It was therefore decided, by the Stewards that a chain of custody for various feeds and supplements being fed to horses and an SOP should be put in place which has now been done. This SOP will be operational ONLY if there are WADA accredited Laboratories available for feed testing – both for Primary as well as Confirmatory Testing. It has been made clear to the Trainers that the Club is only facilitating them in getting the feed/supplements or any other material analysed and the trainer would have to satisfy and prove to the Club that he has used it for that particular horse before it tested positive.
Recently we have had a trainer reported positive for a drug (which has never ever being reported earlier) 6 times at very miniscule levels. It is obvious that something is amiss. This matter was referred to the Inspector of the Animal Welfare Board of India as to what was the best way forward in trying to identify what caused the presence of this prohibited substance VENLAFAXINE in the urine sample of various horses. The Animal Welfare Board has recommended that the club hold an independent investigation into how this has occurred and to have all feeds and supplements tested that have been given to the horses to ascertain as to why this has appeared in the urine sample of these horses. As custodians of racing, it is necessary that the Stewards do everything possible to find the truth and in trying to find the truth cannot make the Club vulnerable.
As regards the license to Vishal Gaekwad, the Stewards deliberated on the matter and considered that since he had almost 15 years’ experience assisting various trainers and therefore, he was a fit case for granting a license. Mr. Milan Luthria has neither dissented on this decision nor given cogent reasons as to why he should not be given a license. Mr. Gaekwad also passed the necessary examination that assistants are subjected to prior to obtaining a licence and was recommended to be given a licence by the Stipendiary Stewards.
RWITC Ltd has spent an amount of approximately Rs.1.40 crores towards Analytical Fees during last year and in view of the fact that the Club is going through an acute financial crisis, it was felt that the Club should find ways and means to reduce the expenditure on Analytical Fees without compromising on the testing standard and accordingly, the National Dope Testing Laboratory, New Delhi, who approached the RWITC Ltd was asked to give a presentation to the Stewards which they did.
It is most unfortunate that Mr. Luthria feels that a Govt Laboratory in India which is approved by WADA can be manipulated. This laboratory relies on the Hong Kong laboratory for technical advice and has its chief analyst Terrance Wan on its technical advisory committee. In fact Hyderabad Race Club has been using this as their primary laboratory for some time now. We have not yet switched over but it is thought economically prudent to send a small percentage of samples to evaluate their proficiency.Few spike samples from non racing horses were sent to this laboratory for testing. It was made clear and minuted that sending spike samples to this lab does not imply that the Stewards have agreed to nominate this lab for testing samples. No final decision has been taken in this regard.
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