SECURITY cameras in the Sha Tin stables of French trainer Patrick Biancone do not cover the feed room where the prohibited substance which showed up in six of his horses was mixed. The blank spot in stable surveillance is common in all Sha Tin yards and the hours of footage shot by cameras and currently being viewed by the trainer, racing department and security department officials, may well prove to be useless.
A number of trainers yesterday confirmed the siting of the cameras and one said: 'When prescribed medication is put into a horse's feed it is obviously done in the feed room set aside for that purpose so if they are hoping to see somebody bunging it into Patrick's feeding tubs they'll be watching for a long time.' While not commenting on the position of the security cameras in the stables, the Security Controller of the Jockey Club, David Twynham, said: 'We are happy with the cameras that we have in the stables.' Tests continue on samples taken from all horses in Biancone's stable with an official announcement on any further positive swabs due on Tuesday. Jockey Club officials are not commenting on the issue which has developed into the biggest drugs-related probe in the 24-year history of professional horse racing in Hong Kong. Biancone, who is understood to have consulted lawyers, was at Sha Tin yesterday although he had no horses engaged with two griffins and the brilliant Deauville withdrawn because they were positive. It is known that the Frenchman remains puzzled as to how original pre-race tests on Lyphard's Lad and easy winner Charming Guest did not show the presence of Sputolosin, which is a trade name for the generic drug dembrexine.
Dr David Crone, senior racing chemist, confirmed earlier that pre-race tests were not conducted for this particular drug but it has since emerged that Sputolosin is administered in tandem with ventipulmin, better known under the name Clenbuterol. This drug is specifically tested for in pre-race samples. Biancone had Powernamic under a course of Sputolosin treatment which began on March 5 and was due to run for 10 days.
The first positive swab turned up in a post-race check on Lyphard's Lad on March 10 and the second followed on Charming Guest a week later. The latest three positives came on March 21, 16 days after the Sputolosin treatment began legitimately on Powernamic. Under strict veterinary control, trainers are given medication solely to cover a prescribed period.
Trainers are required to return unused medication if treatment for a horse is discontinued within the prescribed period. With officially one - but possibly two - Biancone horses under a course of Sputolosin, it remains a puzzle as to how a total of seven horses, at this stage, returned positive to this drug. Within the period starting on March 5, there would have been insufficient amounts of the drug officially supplied by the Jockey Club veterinary department.
The Board of Inquiry into the six positive samples will open at Happy Valley racecourse tomorrow morning but is expected to be adjourned. One Jockey Club insider said last night: 'It would be fair to say that most of us are in the dark. That is what this inquiry is going to be all about - but we do want to get to the bottom of it.'