Dettori admits taking drugs
Frankie Dettori has expressed his horror at a press release issued to publicise a television programme in which he admits taking drugs to keep his weight down. And the former champion jockey is considering legal action against the BBC over the contents of the release which suggested he still took pills to control his weight.
The press release was issued to publicise an item in the BBC Newsnight programme in which Dettori admitted using diuretics in the past. The programme also reveals a drug testing report out next month shows a huge increase in the number of jockeys testing positive for diuretics. Although diuretics have been outlawed by the International Olympic Committee's for years, the Jockey Club only banned the use of them in June this year when it realised there was a significant rise in positive test results.
A statement issued by Dettori's business manager Peter Burrell last night said, “We received notification of a press release relating to an item to be broadcast by the BBC on Newsnight at 14.30 hours today. The contents and headline of the release are totally incorrect, misleading and defamatory. We notified the BBC to withdraw and retract to minimise the damage that this press release has caused Mr Dettori. We have not seen the contents of the programme and at this stage Mr Dettori's reaction is one of horror, shock and disbelief. We are taking considerable legal advice and have been told by a national newspaper that the BBC have been trying to alter the contents of their misleading press release”.
A BBC spokesman refused to comment on Mr Burrell's statement.
In the programme Dettori admits to Newsnight: “I took lasix, pee pills, diuretics, laxatives - all sorts. I tried everything. Unfortunately, it's part of the job - not because we like it, it's because unfortunately it's things we have to do keep our weight down. Like everything else you start with one, then it doesn't work and you have to take two or three, and in the end you're almost taking a full packet to make it work”.
When asked whether he still took pills, he replies, “I try not to, I eat a balanced diet but it's very tough.”
UK Sport carried out drug testing within sport in the UK. Next week its annual drug-testing report will reveal that the number of jockeys testing positive for diuretics over the past year has risen from two to nine.
Michelle Verokken, UK Sport's Director of Ethics and Anti-Doping, tells
Newsnight, “UK Sport is concerned because in the previous year we reported two findings. Now that has increased to nine in the annual report and has subsequently gone up into double figures. It is a serious problem. It stands out more than any other sport because the use of diuretics could potentially give the jockeys serious health consequences. You could have the blood thicken and the heart under pressure. A jockey involved in a collision or falling from a horse could very well be involved in more serious bruising or damage - muscle damage, bone damage that would actually be worse as a consequence of diuretics”.
However, the pressure on apprentice jockeys to make the weights is so great that, according to one apprentice, Paul Fitzsimons, they are taking little notice of the ban. Speaking on the same programme, he admitted, “It hasn't really made much difference - some lads still do it behind the scenes and they still carry on taking them regardless of what it can do to you, especially in the long run”.
The concern from some jockeys is that if diuretics are no longer used, jockeys who need to get their weight down to the minimum weight (7st 10lb) will have to take other drastic measures.
The most worrying stems from the United States where many jockeys regularly lose weight by bingeing and then vomiting.
Champion jockey Kieron Fallon told Newsnight, “Bulimia is the only way left for jockeys now that Dr Turner (chief medical advisor to the Jockey Club) has taken most of the medication off the shelf”.
Leading trainer Mark Johnston reacted to the news by calling for the minimum weight to be looked at. “I couldn't say I've come across any drugs problems regarding jockeys keeping their weight down, he said. But I would like to see the minimum weight raised again which should help many jockeys if there is a problem. I know a lot of lightweight jockeys were unhappy when the minimum was raised from 7st 7lb to 7st 10lb a few years ago. But I can see no harm now in raising it again to 8st - I'm sure it would be to the benefit of a lot of people. If it did happen though, I wouldn't like to see the maximum weight increased as that would simply be asking too much of horses, especially in soft ground”.
