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O’Brien Horses In Australia Subjected To Out-Of-Competition Tests After Feed Contamination Concerns

After top international trainers Aidan and Joseph O'Brien were forced to scratch horses from Sunday's races due to concerns about possible feed contamination, news broke Monday that Australian authorities are testing O'Brien horses based there.

Racing Post reported that top Caulfield Cup hopeful Anthony Van Dyck and Melbourne Cup contender Tiger Moth just arrived in Australia to prepare for those races.

The O'Brien horses are fed products made by Gain Equine Nutrition, which warned customers that some batches of some of its products may have been contaminated with zilpaterol. Zilpaterol is not permitted in Europe but is commonly used in the States by cattle farmers to add weight to cows. It is a beta agonist and therefore could have anabolic-like side effects.

A French lab detected zilpaterol in urine samples taken from O'Brien horses after the company's warning.

“Racing Victoria (RV) can advise that its integrity services team are liaising with Irish trainers Aidan and Joseph O'Brien regarding the circumstances that led to the stable scratching runners in France and Ireland across the weekend due to concerns regarding the alleged contamination of horse feed that it utilizes.

“Reports from both trainers and international racing authorities are that feed used by both stables has been found in Europe to be contaminated with the prohibited substance Zilpaterol.

“Following discussions with the O'Brien stables, RV stewards have today conducted out of competition testing on their horses at Werribee to determine whether Zilpaterol is currently in any of the horse's systems. The results of these tests may take up to one week.

“Furthermore, both stables have confirmed to RV stewards today that they have ceased using feed from the provider in question.”

Learn more about feed contamination in this 2015 Paulick Report feature.

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O’Briens’ Australian Team Tested by RV

Australian runners trained by Aidan and his son Joseph O’Brien have undergone tests by Racing Victoria to see if they came back positive for the synthetic substance Zilpaterol, which had been found in contaminated GAIN feed. Both O’Briens and Aidan’s other son Donnacha were forced to scratch all of their runners on Arc Sunday after they tested positive for the substance. The O’Briens’ 10 horses arrived in Melbourne on Friday night and are under quarantine for two weeks at the International Horse Centre in Werribee.

A statement by Racing Victoria said in part, “Following discussions with the O’Brien stables, RV stewards have today conducted out of competition testing on their horses at Werribee to determine whether zilpaterol is currently in any of the horse’s systems. The results of these tests may take up to one week. Furthermore, both stables have confirmed to RV stewards today that they have ceased using feed from the provider in question.

“RV stewards will continue to work with the O’Brien stables regarding the situation and will make a further comment once the result of the out of competition tests are known and the stables have been notified.”

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O’Brien Family Runners Withdrawn From Sunday’s Arc Card Due To Zilpaterol Positives, Possible Feed Contamination

A total of 11 horses trained by Aidan, Joseph, and Donnacha O'Brien will be withdrawn from Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe card at Longchamp after a French lab returned positive urine samples for the banned substance Zilpaterol, Racing Post reports.

Four of the O'Brien runners – Mogul, Japan, Sovereign and Serpentine – were set to test Enable in the Group 1 Arc. Fancy Blue, a leading contender for the G1 Prix de l'Opera trained by Donnacha O'Brien, will also scratched.

The withdrawals were announced after Gain Equine Nutrition advised customers to stop using its feed after some batches were found to have been contaminated with Zilpaterol, a substance that's unlicensed in Europe, but is used in the U.S. and elsewhere, primarily to promote weight gain in cattle.

Urine samples from the O'Brien horses were cleared by the Irish Equine Centre, but Aidan O'Brien told Racing Post that a difference in testing methods between the Irish and French laboratories might have produced different results. O'Brien said the Irish test is primarily used to find the drug in cattle, instead of horses.

The Zilpaterol contamination had already caused five positives in France over the past few weeks, and trainer Roger Varian, who also uses Gain products, scratched all seven of his British runners on Saturday, as well.

In 2013, feed made in a California mill and contaminated with Zilpaterol caused a rash of positives in that state, and reached as far as Hong Kong when the feed shipped overseas.

Gain is one of the most widely-used feeds in England and Ireland, meaning a large portion of their racing populations could be exposed to the contaminated feed. However, Racing Post reports that John Gosden, trainer of top Arc contender Enable, does not feed Gain products, thus the mare is not at a risk to scratch due to the contamination.

A statement from the Ballydoyle Twitter account on Saturday read:

“Unfortunately, the results of the urine samples taken from the horses yesterday have come back positive from the French laboratory. There is a possibility that the contaminant may have left their system by the time of racing tomorrow, however we have no guarantee of this, and in order to protect the integrity of racing, we have decided to withdraw all our horses from racing tomorrow. Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien will do likewise.”

Enable Leads 22 in Latest Arc Forfeit Stage

Dual G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) will attempt to win her third Arc in the last four years, as she is one of 22 in the French showpiece after the latest forfeit stage announced on Monday. The Juddmonte mare is one of three in the race at this stage for John Gosden, with Bjorn Nielsen’s star stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and fellow Juddmonte runner and undefeated 2019 G1 St Leger hero Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is also entered.

Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien has four entered so far for the Coolmore partners in outstanding dual Classic heroin Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), 2020 G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), MG1SW Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), and 2019 G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). This term’s G1 Derby victor Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is under consideration, but has yet to be supplemented.

Aidan’s son Joseph fields a quintet, among them MGSW Buckhurst (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and GSW Degraves (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) for Lloyd Williams, this season’s G3 Gallinule S. hero Crossfirehurricane (Kitten’s Joy) for Scott Heider and Healthy Wood Ltd.’s Group 3 winner New York Girl (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

Andre Fabre relegated Enable back into second in last year’s edition with Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), and he will send MG1SW Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) this season, although it is the first time the Godolphin representative will be trying 2400 metres. Jean-Claude Rouget will saddle MG1SW Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) for Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm and the progressive Shadwell filly Raabihah (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who won the G3 Prix de Psyche in August and was second in the G1 Prix Vermeille on Sept. 13.

G1 German Derby hero and Grand Prix de Paris third In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) represents Francis-Henri Graffard and Gestut Schlenderhan, while the third-place finisher that day, Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}), returns for Fabrice Chappet.

Japan is represented by G1 Nassau S. heroine Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) and G1SW Way to Paris (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) steps forward for Andrew Marcialis and Paolo Ferrario. Two last out group winners, Telecaster (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) for Hughie Morrison and Chachnak (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) are also entered.

For the full list of Arc declarations, please go to www.france-galop.com.

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