Great Britain: Set Back for Team Omar

Brechinadvertiser.co.uk - Full Article

Published on 18/05/2013 06:01

RAF Cranwell, normally home to aircrafts, played host to Endurance Great Britain’s third major national ride last weekend.

The event attracted hundreds of riders and horses from across the UK for a competition spread over three days.

Brechin based rider John Thomson and his pure bred Arabian gelding Prince Omar made the journey south to join some of his N&T Group team mates, all of whom were scheduled for the big distance race rides of 160kms over two days, one day 80kms and John and Omar in the 100kms CER one day class.

In a cloudless early morning the mass start went over the line at 07.31 a.m.

For a race ride it was a fairly sedate start due to a short section of tarmac that led into heavily rutted and root laden forest tracks but within a couple of kilometres, nerves had passed and the riders had settled down to a steady but quick endurance trot before the pace shifted up a gear...

Read more here:
http://www.brechinadvertiser.co.uk/sport/local-sport/set-back-for-team-omar-1-2931151

UAE: Guilty racehorse trainer’s endurance links put spotlight on Arab doping record

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

May 6 2013

Concerns about equine doping and severe injuries in the Middle East are already the worst-kept secrets in FEI endurance. But this niche discipline seems set for wider scrutiny following the Godolphin steroids scandal that rocked the racing world.

Mahmood al Zarooni, who trained for Sheikh Mohammed’s elite Godolphin operation at Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket, was banned for a record eight years after 11 racehorses tested positive to anabolic steroids, following a spot-check by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) last month.

Al Zarooni also admitted giving steroids to four other horses.

Sheikh Mohammed is the ruler of Dubai, one of the seven principalities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He personally underpins the global racing economy with worldwide bloodstock investments worth billions and owns an estimated 5,000 racehorses.

His junior wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, is president of the FEI, the body that governs global horse sport, and has actively campaigned for clean sport...

Read more here:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/guilty-racehorse-trainers-endurance-links-put-spotlight-on-arab-doping-record/

Great Britain: Sheikh Mohammed's son-in-law explains pressures that lead to doping in endurance racing

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

By Simon Briggs
14 May 2013

Endurance racing needed a smooth day out on Friday at Windsor, after the negative publicity that has surrounded it in recent days. The Queen attended, the United Arab Emirates took three of the first four places, and no positive tests were reported — for the moment at least.

For those not familiar with this niche equestrian pursuit, an endurance ride involves a course of up to 100 miles long which must be completed by one rider on one horse. It is little wonder that the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has identified it as a hotspot for chemical enhancement, with 41 cases of doctored horses reported between 2010 and 2012.

Figures prepared by the Swiss Equestrian Federation suggest that the Middle Eastern states — which have come to dominate the sport since the 1990s — are at the heart of the problem. Horses from the UAE have repeatedly been cited — even one ridden by the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, himself. The connections between these mini-scandals and the rather larger debacle at Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin stables are not hard to draw.

Sheikh Mohammed’s son-in-law, Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, rode in Friday’s race, although with limited success; his horse Moro Famayev went lame and had to retire after the first 20-mile lap. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Prince Nasser — whose father is the King of Bahrain — admitted that doping was a major problem in endurance racing, though he was wise enough to defend Sheikh Mohammed from any accusation of wrong-doing.

“What made this happen is like exactly the athletes in the human races, they want to beat the other runners and the other countries, and they start to miscalculate things,” said Prince Nasser...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10055050/Sheikh-Mohammeds-son-in-law-explains-pressures-that-lead-to-doping-in-endurance-racing.html

Great Britain: Royal Windsor's first endurance race a success

Horseandcountry.tv - Full Article

By Charlotte Ricca-Smith on 14th-May-2013

Royal Windsor’s very first endurance ride was hailed as a great success, with perfect conditions helping to produce some top-class performances.

History in the making

The winner was United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Abdullah Ghanim Al Marri, who completed the 120km course in a time of four hours, 32 minutes and 34 seconds, riding his 11-year-old grey mare La Crysada.

“The race was difficult as this was my first ride abroad and the course was very different to courses in the Emirates but to come here and to enter the history books by winning the first ever Royal Windsor endurance ride is an honour,” said Al Marri.
In second place was fellow UAE rider Saeed Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi with Castlebar Kadeen, who finished in a time of four hours, 39 minutes and 39 seconds...

Read more here:
http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2013/05/14/royal-windsors-first-endurance-race-success

France: The 2014 WEG Organising Committee meets the press in Gothenburg

JEMFEIAlltech2014-normandie.fr

02/05/2013

The Organising Committee’smanaging director Fabien Grobon, outlined the major achievements of the last twelve months. He particularly focused on the teams’ daily achievements, as they work towards making these Games an event to live up to both the public’s expectations and enthusiasm.

José Carlin-Perez, the media operations manager, explained the OC’s approach to providing media services for all those making the journey to Normandy from 23 August to 7 September 2014. Everything possible will be done to guarantee high-quality services, which will allow media representatives to optimise their fortnight stay. José Carlin-Perez stressed the Organising Committee’s wish “to have a thorough approach towards the transmission of the results and information on a whole, as well as supplying a highly-organised working environment for the media.”

Teams of volunteers will be assigned to assist the media and facilitate the organisation of everyday services.

Specific areas will be reserved for the media in close proximity to the Main Media Centre (MMC/CIM) located at the d’Ornano Stadium. Additional media centres will also be placed at all of the competition venues. The control room and broadcasting centre will be set up nearby and television transmission will be handled conjointly by the EBU and the France Télévisions group.

Accommodation arrangements have already been finalised. Four hotels will be allocated to journalists, all of which are located close to Caen’s d’Ornano Stadium. Nearly 200 rooms have been pre-booked with rates ranging from 75 to 150 euros (depending on the category of hotel.) Reservations will be possible from 15 May 2013 onwards.

A shuttle service will be organised between the media hotels, the MMC/CIM and all the different competition venues.

Requests for accreditation will be possible from February 2014 until May 2014.

Journalists present in Gothenburg went away with all the information necessary for their forthcoming trip to Normandy. Further dates have been planned for the coming months.

Everything has been designed to make the media’s work that little bit easier at the Games!

Key dates:

Hotel reservations from 15 May 2013 – contact : hotels.normandie2014@mci-group.com
Accreditation possible from February 2014 – contact : media.operations@normandie2014.com
For practical information : media.operations@normandie2014.com

Great Britain: 120 km Royal Windsor Endurance CEI 2*

Horsereporter.com - Full Article

May 12, 2013
By Pamela@horsereporter

May 5, 2013, Windsor, UK ~ On a very cool day with high winds and occasional heavy showers 48 competitors representing seven countries galloped away from the start with the splendid back drop of Windsor Castle.

This was an historic occasion as it was the first time that an endurance ride was included in the events of Royal Windsor Horse Show that was celebrating its 70th anniversary.

The majority of the route was over the Queen’s private Estate of Windsor Great Park. The going was exceptional, over beautifully mown grass and sandy tracks. The mildly undulating course passed several famous statues and set another first when part of the first loop was set around the steeplechase course at Ascot Race Course that will host the famous Royal meeting next month. It also passed Cranbourne Tower, the birthplace of Eclipse in 1764, an outstanding British thoroughbred racehorse undefeated in the 18th-century winning 18 races, including 11 King’s Plates. After retiring from racing he became a very successful sire...

Read more here:
http://www.horsereporter.com/?p=6827

Mansour Festival to stage two rides in France

Gulfnews.com

Compiegne, Tarbes venues for the events

Staff Report
Published: 17:45 May 13, 2013

Abu Dhabi: The Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival announced their association with international endurance rides here at a press conference on Monday.

Lara Sawaya, Director of the Festival and Head of International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities (IFAHR) Ladies Racing, said two rides will be held under the banner of the Festival starting with a 160-km ride later this month.
“We are proud to announce that the Festival will now be officially involved in two international endurance rides under the directives of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affair,” Sawaya said.
“The first ride is a CEI-O three-star Nation Cup ride which will be over a distance of 160km in Compiegne, France, and will be the last 160-km ride before the World Equestrian Games. There will be participants from all over the world, including from the UAE, and this race will take place on May 24 with pre-inspection on May 23,” she said.

Great Britain: Al Beloushi flies the flag for UAE with Royal victory

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Emirati riders finish one-two in historic ride held at Windsor Great Park

By Leslie Wilson JrRacing & Special Features Writer
Published: 18:57 May 11, 2013

Dubai: Rashid Mohammad Ebrahim Al Beloushi did the UAE proud by winning the inaugural Royal Windsor Endurance CEI 2* ride held in association with and presented by the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Riding the seven-year-old grey gelding Bucanero, Al Baloushi completed the challenging 120km course around the centuries-old Windsor Great Park in a time of 4 hours, 32 minutes and 34 seconds.

Saeed Ahmad Jaber Al Harbi made it a memorable day for the UAE when he finished in second place aboard the 16-year-old Australian mare Castlebar Kadeen. Al Habri timed 4:39:39 secs.

Dace Sainsbury, a 20-year-old top-placed British rider, was third with French Lieutenant (4:48:32)...

Read more here:
http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/al-beloushi-flies-the-flag-for-uae-with-royal-victory-1.1182107

Great Britain: Horseshoe Endurance Ride to host para class

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

By Horsetalk.co.nz on May 08, 2013 in Focus

Britain’s famous Golden Horseshoe Endurance Ride over Exmoor is including an invitation-only event for Para riders this year.

The ride, from May 12 to 14, has eight competitive classes and will this year host the 48th running of the famous Golden Horseshoe, which in its early days was 75 miles long but is now a daunting 100 miles...

Read more here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/05/08/golden-horseshoe-endurance-para-class/#axzz2Sqn5DHFR

Major blow for Endurance GB as Dubai Equestrian Club pulls plug on Euston Park sponsorship

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Endurance riding in Great Britain has suffered a huge blow with the Dubai Equestrian Club pulling its blanket sponsorship of Euston Park, axing the Thetford venue’s entire 2013 calendar.

By Pippa Cuckson
10:00PM BST 09 May 2013

The loss of four major race rides — to endurance riding, the equivalent of horse racing losing both Newmarket and Ascot – was announced in a single sentence on Euston Park’s website, which effectively shut down on Wednesday. The national governing body, Endurance GB, has not been offered a reason.

The development follows a week of further publicity surrounding doping cases within Sheikh Mohammed’s wider equine interests including Telegraph Sport's disclosure on Wednesday that some 20 horses trained in stables owned by the Maktoum family in Dubai had been involved in FEI doping cases since 2005.

Telegraph Sport understands that prior to the revelations that led to Sheikh Mohammed’s racehorse trainer, Mahmood Al Zarooni, being banned for eight years, Endurance GB was already resisting proposals for another "private ride" not under the rules of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

A similar concept was staged at Euston in August 2009 which enabled Sheikh Mohammed and three other riders, all then serving FEI suspensions, to compete...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10047857/Major-blow-for-Endurance-GB-as-Dubai-Equestrian-Club-pulls-plug-on-Euston-Park-sponsorship.html

Australia: Countdown to Tom Quilty Gold Cup in Kilkivan

Horsezone.com.au - Full Article

COUNTDOWN TO TOM QUILTY GOLD CUP ENDURANCE RIDE - KILKIVAN 7-9 JUNE 2013
Published on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 in General

Sponsored by Events Queensland, it’s only four weeks until Australia’s world famous 160km endurance horse ride begins. The rural township of Kilkivan, located in south-east Queensland, will proudly host the 2013 Tom Quilty Gold Cup from June 7-9.

Current national champion, Brook Sample, 38, of Kenilworth, who already has six Quilty Cups to his name, plans to compete again this year and hopes to make 2013 his 7th victory.

Brook has competed regularly in this iconic endurance horse ride since reaching the qualifying age of 12. His first 160km ride was the Quilty in South Australia in 1986 when he placed first in the Junior Division.

He has ridden in the Quilty 12 times, each time finishing in the top 10 and winning first place in 1990, 1995, 2002, 2009, 2010 and 2012 – a record unmatched by any other Australian endurance rider.

“What drives me to keep going back to the Quilty is testing my horsemanship skills in the biggest ride in the country and against the best riders in the country,” explained Brook, as he prepared for this year’s challenge...

Read more here:
http://horsezone.com.au/news/countdown-to-tom-quilty-gold-cup-endurance-ride-kilkivan-7-9-june-2013-3776/

Great Britain: Euston Park FEI Rides 2013 Cancelled

Endurancegb.co.uk

08 May 2013

It is with regret that EnduranceGB have to inform you that the Dubai Equestrian Club have decided to withdraw their sponsorship from the FEI rides at Euston Park for 2013.

This will mean that the Euston Park series of FEI rides will not be available this summer. There are opportunities to compete in FEI rides at Bocconoc, Kings Forest, Seacliffe, Barbury Castle and the College ride in the UK.

If it is at all possible to secure one of the Euston Park dates to run an FEI ride elsewhere we will endeavour to seek out the opportunities. We have enjoyed the generosity of the DEC for several years and would hope that this will continue in the future. 



Karen Collier

Chairman of Endurance GB

Endurance horses trained at Sheikh Mohammed's Dubai stables involved in doping scandal

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

By Pippa Cuckson
11:59PM BST 07 May 2013

More than 20 endurance horses trained in Dubai at stables owned variously by Sheikh Mohammed and other senior members of the Maktoum family have been involved in doping cases before the International Equestrian Federation’s (FEI) disciplinary tribunal since 2005.

According to publicly available archives, 16 of the horses tested positive in competition to natural or manufactured steroids. Four since 2009 have involved stanozolol, the banned substance found in Sheikh Mohammed’s 11 Godolphin racehorses that led to trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni’s eight-year ban by the British Horseracing Authority.

Sheikh Mohammed refused to answer questions relating to doping from television presenter Clare Balding at Newmarket last Saturday, but he had previously pledged a root-and-branch investigation into stable practices at Godolphin’s Newmarket set-up. The FEI tribunal has pre­viously noted that he made a similar undertaking regarding his endurance operations in Dubai when he himself was suspended for six months in 2009, though any evidence of changes brought in as a result was not shown to them...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10042116/Endurance-horses-trained-at-Sheikh-Mohammeds-Dubai-stables-involved-in-doping-scandal.html

Guillermo Gonzalez and Camerupt are 2013 Spanish Junior Champions

El Raid Blog

May 4 2013

Guillermo Gonzalez and Camerupt won the Spanish Junior/Young Rider Championships on May 4, 2013 in Sant Feliu Sasserra (Barcelona), Spain. Nuria Serrabassa riding Kasbah was second, and Gil Berenguer riding Shagya Irisz was third.

The 120 km ride was completed in 6:54.23 at an average of 17.81 kkm/h.

Complete results can be seen here:
http://www.ecuestreonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fase4.pdf

Australia: Endurance rider ready for another big year

Bellingencourier.com.au - Full Article

May 1 2013

Bellingen rider Sharon Foster is all trained up for another year of endurance horse riding.

Foster has three horses on a fitness program ready for the endurance season ahead.

The Coffs Clarence Endurance Riding Club will be running its annual endurance ride on August 17 and 18.

There will be two 20km social rides, a 40km training ride and an 80km competition ride. All horse lovers are welcome. Last year, Foster covered a total of 1500km in training around the state forests in Bellingen.

And riding her trusted Arabian mare Maleka rode a total of 720km of competition, with a 100 per cent success rate...

Read more here:
http://www.bellingencourier.com.au/story/1470346/endurance-rider-ready-for-another-big-year/?cs=12

Australia: Tom Quilty Gold Cup closing date extended

Gympietimes.com.au - Full Article

1 May 2013

THE closing date to nominate for Australia's international endurance horse ride, the Tom Quilty Gold Cup, has been extended to May 15.

The 48th Tom Quilty Gold Cup will be held at Kilkivan from June 7-9, hosted by the Kilkivan Endurance Riders Club (KERC).

To qualify for the "Quilty", riders must successfully complete a 160km ride prior to the event.

Several lead-up endurance rides were cancelled due to unprecedented weather events including repeated heavy rains and flooding in south-east Queensland since January.

The most recent cancellation was the Far-A-Way endurance carnival, due to have been held at Imbil over Easter.

KERC president, Vern Berry said nominations to date for the Quilty were down on expectations because many key qualifying rides had been washed out...

Read more here:
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/tom-quilty-gold-cup-closing-date-extended/1849797/

Great Britain: Team Omar strike gold

Brechinadvertiser.co.uk - Full Article

04/05/2013

Despite the inclement weather and poor ground conditions over the early months of this year being responsible for delays in training programmes and competitive rides, Brechin based rider John Thomson and his pure bred Arabian endurance horse Prince Omar headed south for their first competitive ride of the season.

John and Omar joined 130 other combinations at the Endurance Great Britain National ride at Durham Valleys in early April with Team Omar taking on the 82 kilometres class.

The route, broken into a series of loops, followed sections of bridleways and disused railway lines making the going ideal for Omar’s flat speed conditioning.

Despite a temperature of minus two degrees Celsius in the early morning start, by the time Team Omar came into Vet Gate one the sun was up and the temperature had reached what seemed like a “tropical” 14 degrees Celsius.

By this stage Team Omar had covered the first 40 kilometres loop in under two and a half hours.

With the crew working flat out Omar was quickly vetted and the second loop covered in a time of two hours and 17 minutes to gain a National 2 award and gold standard.

“With the weather playing havoc with training plans and our first planned National ride in Cumbria cancelled there was always a slight worry about being fully prepared for a big distance early in the season,” explained John...

Read more here:
http://www.brechinadvertiser.co.uk/sport/local-sport/team-omar-strike-gold-1-2915443

Great Britain: Godolphin Trainer's Steroid Use Called 'Deliberate Flouting'

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By The Blood-Horse Staff • May 01, 2013 • Article #31788

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), in a recap of a hearing into trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni's admitted use of anabolic steroids in some of his racehorses, called it a "deliberate flouting" of the rules of racing.

The BHA published the document April 30, just days after Al Zarooni, who trained for Godolphin, was suspended for eight years for 11 positive tests for ethylestranol and stanozolol. Blood samples were taken from the horses April 9, and the hearing before the BHA Disciplinary Panel was held April 25.

"The panel takes a very dim view of the sheer volume of horses who were subjected to these unlawful medication regimes," the BHA said. "This was a widespread systematic misuse of illegal substances which are absolutely prohibited under the rules..."

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/31788/godolphin-trainers-steroid-use-called-deliberate-flouting?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=welfare-industry&utm_campaign=05-02-2013

Jairo Rodriquez and Lyrical Breeze are 2013 Spanish Champions

El Raid Blog

May 2 2013

Jairo Rodriquez and Lyrical Breeze won the Spanish Championships held on May 2 in Sant Feliu Sasserra (Barcelona), Spain. The pair covered the 160 km in 9:28.15, averaging 17.11 km/h. Lyrical Breeze also received the Best Condition award.

Laia Muixi riding Flying Tornade finished second, and Bernat Casals riding Dzsamila-P finished 3rd.

10 of 34 starters completed the ride.

Full results can be seen here:
http://www.ecuestreonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/resultados_raid_ctoespana.pdf

Australia: Mudgee Endurance Ride celebrates 40th birthday

Mudgeeguardian.com.au - Full Article

April 29 2013

Mudgee Endurance Riders Club will dedicate its 40th anniversary ride on May 25 and 26 to its veterinarian of 36 years, the late Ray Gooley.

Planning is well underway for the 40th ride which will start from the Cooyal Progress Association Hall on Wollar Road.

The main event of 83 kilometres will head out at 6am on Sunday, May 26, and a 40-kilometre training ride will begin at 7am.

There will also be a 20-kilometre social ride on Saturday afternoon starting at 1pm. Vetting pre-ride takes place from 11am on Saturday.

Mudgee Endurance Riders Club member Pat Dickinson said the course is not difficult and travels along quiet lanes, private properties, fire trails and bush tracks...

Read more here:
http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/1463873/mudgee-endurance-ride-celebrates-40th-birthday/?cs=1233

Swiss Protest "Negative Evolution of the FEI discipline Endurance"

4/26/2013

In a March 26, 2013, letter from the Swiss Federation, sent to the FEI and distributed to the National Equestrian Federations and European Equestrian Federation, the "negative evolution of the FEI discipline Endurance in the last few years" and the well being of the equestrian sport of endurance and its horses has been addressed.

The letter was written "on behalf of many worried riders, trainers and officials, but also observers in the public, media and animal protection circles." The letter stated, the "actual situation of FEI Endurance is taking forms that the Swiss Equestrian Federation cannot accept any longer."

The letter addresses the "multitude of witnessed and documented cruelties to horses… tremendous fracture frequencies… dangerous treatment protocols… as well as cheating actions before and during the Endurance races… in parallel with the non-taking of responsibility and function of certain officials…"

A "dramatic incidence of positive medication and doping cases" has been observed, along with inequity in competition.

The Swiss have petitioned the FEI to take immediate and efficient measures against the doping of endurance horses and the documented non-equity of competition.

The Swiss letter precedes letters of concern from the French Equestrian Federation, and the Belgian Equestrian Federation to the FEI in October of 2012.

The Belgian letter dated October 2, 2012, addressed (google translate) "the number of dead from exhaustion or horses euthanized due to spontaneous fractures has reached unimaginable proportions…" and requests the FEI take the (google translate) "necessary measures to ensure that perpetrators are actually banned from equestrian sport and that such actions quit permanently."

The French letter, dated October 12, 2012, addressed "a welfare issue concerning endurance discipline," pointing to 3 horse deaths during international endurance competition: "Concerned Horses dead after having passed vet gate inspections either during the track either after the end of the track… These cases are preoccupant for all endurance stakeholders. Here is a risk to tarnish the public perception of endurance discipline…"

No public comment so far from the FEI.

The Federation letters can be seen here:

Belgian Federation letter to FEI

French Federation letter to FEI

Swiss Federation letter to FEI

Abu Dhabi: Al Harmoudi wins Night Endurance Ride

Gulfnews.com - Full Article

Khaled Abdullah Ahmad Al Harmoudi riding 12-year-old Ashraf Sparkling Polaris won the 120-km Al Wathba Night Ride

By M. Satya Narayan, Abu Dhabi Deputy Editor
Published: 09:16 April 27, 2013

Abu Dhabi: Khaled Abdullah Ahmad Al Harmoudi riding 12-year-old Ashraf Sparkling Polaris won the 120-km Al Wathba Night Ride at the Emirates International Endurance Village in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi on Friday night.

Al Harmoudi was followed home by Dana Mohammad Sharif Al Mutawa on Syferpan Cosmo with Rashed Hamoud Humaid Al Junaibi on Sarah Jones Te finishing third.

The Night Ride began at 5.15 pm and winner crossed the finish line at midnight with a time of 4 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

A total of 166 riders took part in the 120-km event that was run in four stages of 40km, 40km, 24km and 16kms.

The winner drove away a 4WD car for his effort while all those who completed the event shared a total prize fund of Dh 450,000.

UAE: Racing giant Sheik Mohammed is no stranger to doping controversies

Dailymail.co.uk - Full Article

By JONATHAN POWELL
PUBLISHED: 15:50 EST, 27 April 2013

Sheik Mohammed, founder of the shamed Godolphin operation, has been tainted previously by three equine doping infringements involving himself, his family and his horses.

Thoroughbred racing's biggest scandal continues to unfold following an eight-year ban for trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni after anabolic steroid stanozolol was found in some of Godolphin's horses.

But the Sheik has been in trouble with the same substance before. Both he and his son, Hamdan, the Crown Prince of Dubai, have been banned after traces were found in the horses they were riding.

And in a third case, a ban was handed out to a British rider using a horse borrowed from Sheik Mohammed that tested positive for another banned steroid.

The Sheik was suspended for six months in 2009 and fined £2,500 by the International Equestrian Federation after his mount Tahhan tested positive for banned substances, including stanozolol, in two competitions.

In addition, Tahhan's trainer, Abdullah bin Huzaim, was banned for 12 months.

In a statement at the time, the Sheik said he had a stake in 700 endurance horses but could not be expected to be aware of each one's medication protocol.

Yet only a month earlier, his wife, Princess Haya, the FEI president, had stressed that it was up to the rider to know how his horse was managed...

Read more here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2315865/Sheik-Mohammed-stranger-doping-controversies.html

Great Britain: The Godolphin scandal: a race for respectability

Telegraph.co.uk - Full Article

Newmarket is hoping confidence will return after the most serious crisis British racing has ever faced

By Cole Moreton9:00PM BST
27 Apr 2013

They step through the early morning drizzle with a catwalk grace. A dozen gorgeous horses in a line, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not more. The traffic stops at the sight of them, because Newmarket is a racing town that respects these dawn patrols.

As the thoroughbreds cross the road, their hooves clatter and their riders mutter gossip to each other in many different languages. There is a lot to talk about. Their sport is reeling this weekend from one of the greatest scandals it has ever known.

“It is shocking, a complete surprise,” says Tim Cox, a historian and trustee of the National Racing Museum. “The use of steroids in this way, and such a public exposure, is unique in the history of racing.”

The discovery of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in 11 horses at the Moulton Paddocks, which sits behind locked gates on a hill two miles out of Newmarket, was such a huge shock because of the man who owns it. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is one of the most influential figures in racing across the world, with a massive training operation called Godolphin that is based both in Dubai and in this Suffolk town.

He is also the ruler of Dubai, who has spent a large portion of his estimated £10 billion fortune using sport to promote his desert state as a centre of excellence, innovation and sportsmanship. The Sheikh has declared himself “appalled and angered” by the discovery and “locked down” the stables until they are proved to be clean, but what will this do to his reputation? This is not just a story about the secretive world of horse racing. It goes way beyond that, into the realms of international politics, power and pride...

Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/drugsinsport/10022365/The-Godolphin-scandal-a-race-for-respectability.html

Great Britain: Mahmood al-Zarooni's time with banned trainer raises questions

Guardian.co.uk - Full Article

Chris Cook
The Guardian, Thursday 25 April 2013

• Mubarak bin Shafya was suspended for steroids
• Godolphin play down significance of connection

As Simon Crisford, Godolphin's spokesman, fielded questions about Mahmood al-Zarooni on Thursday, he found himself answering queries about another trainer banned for the use of anabolic steroids with whom Zarooni had a strong association. Before being hired as Godolphin's second trainer in Newmarket, Zarooni served as assistant in Dubai to Mubarak bin Shafya, who was banned from the separate sport of endurance racing in 2011 over the use of stanozolol, one of the steroids that Zarooni has admitted using.

Crisford played down the significance of Shafya in Zarooni's racing education, saying that the latter had served 10 years under another trainer, Ali al-Raihe, compared with just one under Shafya. He pointed out that Shafya's case came after Zarooni had been hired, adding of Shafya: "He didn't get banned from thoroughbred racing. I wouldn't have been aware of that."

Pressed as to whether Shafya's case raised any concerns for Godolphin over Zarooni, Crisford said: "What are you trying to imply? We didn't take it into consideration."

Shafya was banned for two years by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the governing body for Olympic equestrian events as well as endurance racing after Castlebar Kadeen, a horse he trained, tested positive for stanozolol at an event in Abu Dhabi in November 2010...

Read more here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/apr/25/mahmood-al-zarooni-trainer-questions