Trainer Kieran Cotter has been fined a total of €27,500 by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for administering cobalt to Slade Runner the day before his win at Dundalk in January 2021 and failing to maintain a medicines register at his Portarlington training facility.
Slade Runner was disqualified after a urine sample analysis by LGC Laboratories in Newmarket revealed that the gelding produced a specimen containing cobalt at 119ng/ml, which exceeds the international threshold of 100ng/ml.
Cotter requested a B sample, which was analysed at LCH Laboratories France, with cobalt at 115ng/ml detected.
Cobalt is categorised as a prohibited substance by Irish racing authorities, and can't be used in the two days before a runner appears on the racecourse.
In evidence, Cotter claimed that he had administered 20ml of Complete Copper Cobalt Solution supplied by Natural Nutrition LTD by mouth to the horse on each of the two days prior to the raceday to treat a copper deficiency.
A subsequent unannounced inspection of the trainer's yard on 3 February 2021 revealed that Cotter had failed to maintain a medical register for a number of years.
The inspection also highlighted issues with the disposal of animal remedies and syringes, some of which had been located at a bonfire site on the premises.
The referrals committee did not find Cotter in breach of the rules for a possession of illegal substances in his yard and did not find him in breach of Rule 273(xiii) but noted that the conduct was of a serious nature.
The breakdown of the fine was €20,000 in respect of a breach of Rule 148(iii), in that he had failed to maintain his medicines register, failed to ensure that he and each of his staff having access to medicines were fully conversant with the rules and regulations relating to prohibited substances and that he had failed to be responsible for the safekeeping and administration of medicines having failed to securely lock the medicines cabinet.
A €5,000 fine was imposed in respect of a breach of Rule 148(i) in that the trainer is responsible for everything connected with the welfare, training and running of all horses under the care of that trainer and that Slade Runner had been administered cobalt the day before the race.
Slade Power's subsequent disqualification resulted in a €2,500.
Costs of €7,500 were also awarded to the IHRB against Cotter.
