Irish Government Committee To Conduct Hearings On Racehorse Doping Allegations

An Irish parliamentary committee will be conducting the first of three hearings on Thursday, July 8, looking into the allegations of racehorse doping made by leading trainer Jim Bolger, who said in a June interview with Paul Kimmage of the Irish Independent, “There will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing.”

Representatives of Horse Racing Ireland, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board and the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association are expected to testify during the hearings, which continued on July 13, with two separate sessions.

Bolger was invited to testify but declined on the advice of his lawyer. The trainer, whose recent successes include Poetic Flare's victory in the Group 1 St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, also declined to state who in Irish racing he believes are doping their horses. “They can rest assured I know who they are,” Bolger told the Independent. “Like, if I had responsibility for rooting out cheats, I've have them rooted out in six months.”

In the wake of Bolger's inflammatory interview, Denis Egan, the longtime chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board – the organization that felt the brunt of the trainer's criticism – announced that he his leaving his post in September at the age of 60. Egan has said his decision to take an early retirement has nothing to do with Bolger's comments. He has been with the regulatory board (previously known as the Irish Turf Club) for 26 years, 20 of them as its chief executive.

Bolger's concerns with doping trace back to the 2012 seizure by Irish customs officers of Nitrotain, a steroid manufactured in Australia. The packages were addressed to veterinarian John Hughes, who was found to have imported more than 500 pounds of Nitrotain over 10 years. Hughes received a five-year ban from racing. Bolger contends the regulatory board didn't fully investigate where the Nitrotain was going or follow up on a list of trainers they discovered when they searched Hughes' residence.

Jackie Cahill, who chairs the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, stated: “The Committee has agreed to a series of meetings to discuss the concerning commentary around the integrity of the horseracing industry in Ireland and possible drug use in the sport. We have taken the opportunity to invite the relevant individuals, bodies and organizations in to discuss the recent, very concerning, commentary on the matter and giving them the time and place to debate the issues and highlight their own concerns.

“We are global leaders in the horse racing industry, and any question around its integrity or the possibility of drug use could be extremely damaging,” Cahill added. “Breeders, jockeys, owners, and trainers are dependent on the viability of the sport in Ireland and the good name of the industry around the world. The Committee hopes that these meetings will bring clarity to the situation.”

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Bolger Not Expected To Attend Hearing

Jim Bolger is not expected to attend the parliamentary hearing he was invited to to discuss doping in Irish racing. Bolger made headlines last autumn and again this spring when describing the use of performance-enhancing substances as the “number-one problem” in Irish racing and saying “there will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing.”

Bolger was invited to the agriculture committee hearing alongside representatives of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, Horse Racing Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, but Racing Post reports that a government source has confirmed that, after seeking legal advice, Bolger will not attend the meeting.

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Mojo Ready For Second Derby Test

Europe's most famous maiden Mojo Star (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) will face 10 rivals in Saturday's G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh after Thursday's confirmation stage. Amo Racing's G1 Epsom Derby runner-up was supplemented at a cost of €75,000 by Richard Hannon this week and is the foremost representative of the June 5 blue riband, with the third Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and fourth Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) set to re-oppose for Charlie Appleby and Jim Bolger, respectively. Hurricane Lane is in three, while the May 22 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Mac Swiney has stall seven. There will be no issues with the draw in four for Mojo Star, who is due to be ridden by the owners' retained jockey Rossa Ryan after he completed his recovery from injury. Aidan O'Brien is responsible for a quartet headed by 'TDN Rising Star' High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who is drawn in 10, while Seamie Heffernan is on Wednesday's G2 Queen's Vase runner-up Wordsworth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) drawn widest of all and Colin Keane comes in for the ride on Van Gogh (American Pharoah) who starts from stall six.

Hannon said he is confident that Mojo Star will prove his Derby run to be no fluke and said, “He was always a very laid-back horse. I thought he was a nice horse, but didn't know he was a very good horse. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he was beaten at Newbury earlier this season. I managed to get both him and Snow Lantern beaten on the same day and I thought 'this is going to be a long year'. In hindsight, he's a very big horse and he's grown. It was a bit of a leap of faith putting him in the Derby, but as soon as he pulled up at Newbury I thought he was a Derby horse if I'd ever seen one.”

“We got a bit held up on Tattenham Corner–we were travelling very well and the ground he was making at the line was very pleasing,” Hannon added. “I think this track will suit him a lot more. I was delighted with second and he was a running-on second. We're hardly synonymous with Derby horses. I remember one year at school my dad had the favourite and second-favourite and they were last and second-last. I used to go to the Irish Derby with a few mates from Ireland as a kid. We took Alriffa one year and he wasn't good enough, but to have one with a chance is great.”

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Palace Pier, Poetic Flare Tied Atop Cartier Horse Of The Year Standings

Royal Ascot winners Palace Pier and Poetic Flare are tied at the top of the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings following their victories at Royal Ascot last week.

The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards – the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.

The 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards will be awarded in November. Cartier continues its ongoing support with the presentation of the Cartier Racing Awards.

Both Palace Pier and Poetic Flare currently have 96 points in the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings after establishing themselves as the best milers of their generations.

Four-year-old Palace Pier, trained by John & Thady Gosden for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, cemented his status as the world's best older horse over a mile when recording his fourth G1 victory in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 15.

Poetic Flare has emerged as the top miler of the Classic crop following a remarkable start to his season for breeder/trainer Jim Bolger that included a stunning success in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at the Royal Meeting on June 15.

The son of 2012 Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Dawn Approach had previously run in all three major mile Classics for colts, winning the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, finishing sixth in the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains and going down by a short-head in the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas.

Other contenders in the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings include the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mother Earth (72), who followed up her QIPCO 1000 Guineas win and Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches second with a third in the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 18.

St Mark's Basilica (64), owned like Mother Earth by a Coolmore partnership and also trained by Aidan O'Brien, has already established himself as one of the stars of 2021 with victories in the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club.

Palace Pier, who was crowned last season's Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, also leads the way in the Cartier Older Horse standings, ahead of G1 Prix d'Ispahan scorer Skalleti (56).

Last year's Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Love made an impressive return to action at Royal Ascot with victory in the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes for Aidan O'Brien and a Coolmore partnership on June 16.

She currently has 48 points in the Cartier Older Horse category, along with stable-companion Broome, who finished second in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19. Helvic Dream, Lady Bowthorpe, Mare Australis and Pyledriver also feature among the early contenders in the same category with 40 points each.

Poetic Flare (96) and St Mark's Basilica (64) lead the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category ahead of G1 Cazoo Derby victor Adayar (52).

Mother Earth heads fellow Classic winners Snowfall (56) and Joan Of Arc (56) in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly division, with the latter having provided Aidan O'Brien with a historic first success in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly on June 20. Alcohol Free, winner of the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 18, and G1 Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary heroine Incarville are next on 40 points.

Oxted (40) heads the Cartier Sprinter category following his win in the G1 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 15. American star Campanelle (32) made a triumphant return to action as she was awarded the G1 Commonwealth Cup at the Royal Meeting on June 18 following a stewards' enquiry.

Having filled the runner-up spot for the past two years, Dream Of Dreams (32) recorded a deserved success in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19, while the David Evans-trained Rohaan (24) continues to be one of the success stories of the season, landing the Wokingham Handicap on his latest start on June 19.

There is a new name atop the Cartier Stayer standings following Subjectivist's win for trainer Mark Johnston in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on June 17. The Dr Jim Walker-owned four-year-old has 60 points, ahead of Spanish Mission (28) and Princess Zoe (24) who were third and second in the staying highlight.

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