THE Jockey Club will review its doping control procedures following the incidents involving Patrick Biancone and the David Hayes-trained Mughal Palace.
It is widely believed that the Jockey Club has the most advanced testing system in world racing for the detection of prohibited substances and is proud of its drug-free racing. That image has taken a knock with recent revelations, and further tightening or changing of procedures is in the offing.
Director of racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said yesterday: 'We must look at the whole procedure and, where necessary, make changes. We do have an excellent laboratory and we are very conscious of the need to keep our racing free of drugs.
'This is a matter of priority.' he added.
The cases involving Biancone - whose Whytellyou and Rickfield recently returned positive tests - and Hayes are markedly different. The Whytellyou case involves a drug that is not available in Hong Kong and is all but unknown. The Rickfield incident is bizarre in that an archaic anabolic steroid was administered - and a steroid would be virtually the first drug to show up in a post-race screening.
Hayes was administering circulon provided by the Jockey Club veterinary department, which instructs that the cut-off period is seven days before a race.
Hayes discontinued treatment 11 days prior to the race on May 15 but traces of isoxsuprine - the generic name - were still found.