Among a handful of stewards rulings distributed this week by the Emirates Racing Authority in the United Arab Emirates was one that could make the hair on the back of a trainer's neck stand up.
Trainer Ahmed bin Harmash was fined 25,000 UAE dirhams (about US$6,800) and the horse Sa'ada was disqualified from a Nov. 27, 2020, win at Jebel Ali Racecourse after the prohibited substance minoxidil was detected in a post-race sample by the Dubai Equine Forensic Unit. The drug was subsequently confirmed in a split sample.
According to the ruling, bin Harmash was “unable to offer an explanation for the findings” until he was advised of the nature of the substance. Minoxidil is a “human product used to treat hypertension and baldness,” according to the ruling, which went on to say that the drug “would act upon the cardiovascular system, have the potential to decrease exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), altering the horse's performance and there is considered a prohibited substance under the ERA Rules of Racing.”
Minoxidil is an ingredient in numerous over-the-counter hair-growth products, including Rogaine.
It was after being notified of what the drug is used for that bin Harmash produced a bottle of “New Hair Lotion” he obtained from the exercise rider of Sa'ada. The same individual was the regular exercise rider for two other horses in bin Harmash's barn and the trainer requested that they be withdrawn from upcoming races out of caution and also be tested for the drug. One of the two horses tested positive for minoxidil.
Despite evidence that the positive test likely resulted from contamination, stewards nevertheless disqualified the horse and levied the fine against the trainer.
This was not the first time a hair-growth product led to the disqualification of a performance horse for minoxidil. In 2017, a horse tested positive for the drug following a showjumping event in South Africa. An investigation by the governing body of the sport, the FEI, discovered that the horse's owner was a longtime user of a hair-growth product containing minoxidil and likely transferred enough of the drug to the horse while hand-feeding grass to him.
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