France Galop president: ethics and integrity meant O'Brien horses could not run

France Galop president Edouard de Rothschild has spoken of his Saturday night conversation with Aidan O'Brien and applauded the integrity and ethics that drove the trainer's decision to withdraw four horses from the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

In a dramatic new twist to the contaminated horse feed saga, Ballydoyle's official Twitter feed revealed at 9.20pm on Saturday that Serpentine, Mogul, Japan and Sovereign were all to be scratched from the Arc, along with all other declared horses at Longchamp trained by O'Brien and his sons, Joseph and Donnacha.

Following a public announcement by France Galop on Friday that five horses had tested positive for a prohibited substance, Gain Equine Nutrition advised customers to immediately halt the use of its products due to possible contamination with Zilpaterol, which is unlicensed in Europe but used in the US and elsewhere to promote weight gain, mainly in cattle.