Nibiru prohibited substance case raises many questions for the sport

The recent Referral Hearing held into the circumstances surrounding a positive finding from the urine sample taken from a winner at Dundalk last October is concerning.

On 18 October 2024 trainer Cathy O'Leary ran two horses in a Claiming Race at Dundalk, Nibiru and Firstman.

These two horses were in O'Leary's care because she had stepped in to train for her brother, Tony Martin, who had had his licence suspended over a doping case involving Firstman following a race at Dundalk the previous year.

What is noteworthy here is that Tony Martin's suspension had actually ended on 16 October 2024, two days before this particular Dundalk race.

I presume that because the entries were made for the two horses at Dundalk in the name of trainer Cathy O'Leary, prior to Tony Martin's suspension ending, that the horses would then have to race in her name rather than that of her brother.

The Race and Positive Test

Nibiru attracted support prior to the race at Dundalk, backed from 7/1 into 100/30, and duly obliged, winning by a short-head.

As is standard practice, a urine sample was then taken from the winner for analysis.

Ten days after the race on 28 October Nibiru and his stablemate Firstman were both sold at Tattersalls UK Autumn Sale. Nibiru was sold for just £1,000 and is now trained in the UK where he won again at Southwell last December. Firstman ended up in France and won at Saint-Cloud as recently as June this year.

Two days after the horses were sold, on 30 October the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) were informed by LGC Laboratories in the UK that Nibiru's sample from Dundalk had tested positive for a prohibited substance.

The urine sample taken on the day of the race came back positive for "beta/dexamethasone, a corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties used to treat a variety of conditions in horses, including lameness and respiratory disease."

When the IHRB contacted O'Leary regarding the positive sample she requested the B-sample to be tested as well.

Article highlights:

• Nibiru tested positive for dexamethasone after winning at Dundalk, despite being treated only 48 hours before racing when the drug's detection time is actually five days
• Trainer Cathy O'Leary was taking care of horses for her brother Tony Martin who had previously been suspended for a separate doping violation
• IHRB inspection found evidence of lay people giving intravenous injections and failure to maintain proper medication records
• The veterinarian who gave incorrect withdrawal time advice faced no sanctions as the IHRB has no jurisdiction over veterinary surgeons

You might presume that in looking for the B-sample to be tested, that the trainer was expecting that to come back negative, as she had no idea how the horse tested positive in the first place and that the original finding may have been an error, but that doesn't appear to have been the case here.

Two days before Nibiru was due to run at Dundalk the trainer had sought medical advice "to help Nibiru get through the race as he appeared to be off form."

On 16 October, two days prior to the Dundalk race, Veterinary Surgeon Donncha Houlihan examined Nibiru and "he found the horse to be sore on his right hind and sore when flexing the fetlock. Mr Houlihan stated that he administered dexamethasone intravenously and advised the Trainer that 48 hours was sufficient withdrawal time due to the low levels he administered."

Veterinary Errors and Regulatory Findings

So, while the trainer may have expected, based on veterinary advice, that her horse would not test positive for dexamethasone on race day at Dundalk, she would have been aware that when Nibiru did test positive for this particular substance that it was as a direct result of her vet's intervention two days before the race.

This begs the question as to why she bothered asking for the B-sample to be tested? Unsurprisingly the B-sample also came back positive.

It turns out that the published detection time for the drug administered to Nibiru is five days (the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee) and not the 48 hours suggested by veterinary surgeon Donncha Houlihan.

At the Referral Hearing, "on cross examination Dr Houlihan accepted that he gave the medication and his advice on the timeframe was outside of the recommended period as published."

On 4 November, seven days after both horses had been sold abroad, the IHRB visited the yard and their "veterinary team noted that as well as evidence of a lay person giving intravenous injections to multiple horses over multiple months, that there was a failure to keep the Medicines Register up to date as some medications were not recorded at the time, as required under the Rules."

In the end Cathy O'Leary was found to have committed four separate Rule breaches and ordered to pay fines totaling €2,800 and Nibiru was disqualified from the race at Dundalk.

The IHRB has no jurisdiction over veterinary surgeons, which means the vet who erred with regard to the withdrawal period for the drug, which caused the problem in the first place, was not sanctioned.

Tony Martin appears to have been extremely fortunate that this case didn't happen under his watch. Under the terms of the original suspension of his licence, any breach of Rule 96 or Rule 148 (All four of Cathy O'Leary's breaches relate to those two rules) within two years would automatically trigger a further 3 months suspension of his licence.

Unanswered Questions

A number of questions arise from this case:

• Who punted Nibiru at Dundalk and why? Just two days before the race Nibiru was considered by his trainer to be "off form" and his vet said he was "sore on his right hind and sore when flexing the fetlock," not exactly encouraging information for those thinking of having a bet, yet there was significant support for him and he won.

• When the IHRB veterinary team visited the stables after the prohibited substance finding for Nibiru, why did they not take samples from all horses present?

• It appears to be normal practice in these types of stable visits by IHRB staff to take blood and hair samples from all horses present, which they did after Firstman's positive finding for Lidocaine a year earlier, but that didn't happen this time. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Nibiru and Firstman were no longer there.

• Why was the medicines register in the yard not up to date? When the IHRB team entered the yard on 1 Feb 2023 in response to the positive sample for Firstman they found Tony Martin in breach of Rule 148 as the medicines register had had no entry since August 2022.

Martin would have known that another breach of that Rule would trigger a further suspension of his licence and you would presume he would have stressed the importance of keeping this register up to date to his sister when she took temporary charge of the yard.

Why did O'Leary declare a horse for a race when she was of the opinion that the horse was off form?

Broader Welfare Concerns

On a broader welfare issue, why are trainers permitted to seek medical intervention in the days immediately before a race and why are their vets allowed to administer drugs at this time?

In the case involving Firstman we learned that the horse received three different injections 24 hours before he won at Dundalk (not including the source of Lidocaine which was never found) and Nibiru was also injected 48 hours before his victory.

As far back as July 2021 Dr Lynn Hillyer, IHRB Chief Medical Officer and Head of Anti Doping, launched a scathing attack on the actions of some veterinary surgeons when it comes to the administration of drugs for racehorses.

At a Referral Hearing involving another positive sample for a prohibited substance that had been administered by a vet working in Greenmount Equine Hospital she said: "the advice given by another member of the same practice that there is a 'zero' withdrawal time associated with the administration of Cartrophen® and administration of same on the morning before the horse raced at Cork was also wholly inadequate, irresponsible and demonstrated a clear lack of knowledge and/or disregard for the rules of racing and/or the welfare of the horse."

Here we are over four years later and not a lot appears to have changed.