'It's a level playing field, but if you break the rules here we will catch you' - IHRB chief reacts to Luke Comer doping scandal

The chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) insists racing in Ireland remains a level playing field despite the Luke Comer doping scandal sending shockwaves through the sport this week.

Darragh O'Loughlin paid tribute to his IHRB team for what he described as a "large, difficult and complex case" in which Comer had his training licence suspended for three years and was ordered to pay fines and costs of €840,754 after 12 of his horses tested positive for the anabolic steroids methandienone (MD) and methyltestosterone (MT). 

The case is one of the biggest doping scandals to hit Ireland but O'Loughlin was adamant the use of anabolic steroids is not the norm in Irish racing and said all the evidence, the best part of 6,000 samples each year, suggests the sport is a level playing field.