Two More Held in French Doping Case

Two more people have been detained in the French doping case which began Tuesday morning with coordinated stable raids throughout the country, according to the Jour de Galop. In Thursday's edition, the JDG reports that one of the two new individuals was connected to steeplechase trainer Luc Gabeur, and the other in the Ile de France region which encompasses Paris. Two other individuals have been released.

Tuesday morning, raids were carried out throughout the country, with 21 arrested in France, one additional person in Italy and one in Spain. In Thursday's JDG, Piallat confirmed that two veterinarians, Diego Uson of Spain, and Bertrand Franquet were among those detained. The paper said that according to their sources, raids were carried out Tuesday morning at the stables of David Cottin in Lamorlaye, just outside Chantilly, and in La Teste in Luc Gabeur's stables, which were very similar in nature. Workers were asked to wait in the break room, their mobile phones confiscated, while the searches were carried out, the JDG said.

Wednesday morning, the horses returned to training as usual.

“We are trying to establish the roles of one to another, their relationships and their level of responsibility,” Stephane Piallate, the head of the central service of racing and gaming, told the JDG. “Some people have been revealed to probably have a more important role than we thought at the start, serving as some sort of regional relays distributing these doping products. We are at the heart of an important process of identifying and verifying the elements of proof. Working in connection with the expertise of horse racing laboratories, we are waiting for the results of the analyses.”

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Arrests in France on Doping, Crime Charges

Twenty-three people remained in custody Tuesday night after searches took place in racing stables throughout France, Italy and Spain, according to a report in Wednesday's Jour de Galop, which reported that those held come from “every racing discipline,” who are being investigated for equine doping, organized crime, and association with criminals, the paper reports.

While the JDG listed several of those arrested, none came from the Thoroughbred discipline, but were all National Hunt or trotting trainers.

They said that the investigation has been ongoing for a year, and was launched at the initiative of the Central Service of Racing and Gaming's specialized interregional entity located in Bordeaux. And while it bears a striking resemblance to the Rossi affair just three months ago, the paper says the two are not linked.

Stephane Piallat, the head of the Central Service of Racing and Gaming, told the JDG that the raids were launched in the early morning hours Tuesday. “The operation, which took place Tuesday beginning at 6 a.m., is unprecedented in its scale. It took place in France, Spain and Italy and is the result of a one-year investigation. Several simultaneous raids were launched, with 80 policemen mobilized. There were several searches,” which yielded results, he said.

“Twenty-one people in France are in custody, and two more in Italy and Spain. The investigation centers around racing—trotting and non. It is too early to say if it also involves (other) equestrian sports. Veterinarian, pharmacists, owners, trainer, jockeys and some of their relatives were arrested.”

The JDG reports that jumps trainers David Cottin, Pascal Journiac, Lub Gabeur, and Junior Gulepa, and trotting trainer Yannick Alain Briand are among those detained. Piallat told the JDG that these cases and the arrests made among the Rossi family in their training center in Marseille in December had “nothing to do with one another,” and were the result of two separate sources.

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