Point winner sold for £100,000 barred from running for ten months after testing positive for prohibited substance

Flemensface, a point-to-point and bumper winner who was sold to Lucinda Russell in April for £100,000, is not allowed to run until August 2024 after testing positive for a prohibited substance.

Alan Ahern, who trained Flemensface to win his point at Knockanohill in March before he landed a Cork bumper for Michael Griffin, has been fined €1,250 and had his permit licence suspended for six months, commencing on November 1, by an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board referrals committee.

The six-year-old tested positive for clenbuterol, a prohibited substance when not administered under the direction of a vet, following his point-to-point win. It is used to treat respiratory problems. His sample following his Cork bumper win on April 10 for Griffin was clean.

Ahern, who accepted the adverse analytical finding, said the horse was reported to be "stuffed up and gasping for air" by his rider after a gallop eight days before the Knockanohill point. He felt that may have been due to the horse breaking out into a field on the previous Thursday and Friday and eating too much grass, and said the rider suggested using glycerine to help with the horse’s breathing.

The handler, who had been informed of the positive sample prior to the Cork bumper, said he found a bottle of what he thought was glycerine in his barn and administered it to Flemensface before galloping but it turned out to be ventipulmin syrup, the likely source of the adverse analytical finding. Following his bumper, Flemensface was sold at the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale.

McCluskey's licence suspended

Trainer Neill McCluskey has also had his licence suspended for six months and been fined €3,250 after a Downpatrick winner he trained in April tested positive for prohibited substances.

I Don't Get It made every yard in a 2m2f handicap hurdle but a urine sample was found to contain phenylbutazone (PBZ) and oxyphenbutazone (OPZ).

PBZ is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine licensed as a prescription-only medicine in Britain and Ireland for use in the treatment of musculoskeletal disease in horses, while oxyphenbutazone is a metabolite of PBZ. McCluskey accepted both the adverse analytical finding and that he administered the drug on the morning of the race.

He said the administration occurred by mistake as I Don’t Get It was "stabled beside a half-bred horse who had been prescribed bute, and there was a mix-up in feed buckets".

I Don’t Get It was disqualified and McCluskey fined €2,000 and had his licence suspended for six months. He was hit with another €1,000 fine for failing to provide a satisfactory explanation for the adverse finding and €250 for not keeping the medicines register up to date. His suspension will begin on December 1.

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