THE high-profile Philip Fenton and John Hughes steroid cases have raised a lot of questions, both inside and outside the horse racing industry. In the last couple of weeks, this column has attempted to deal with some of them, but the biggest question remains: is steroid use prevalent in Irish racing?

As damaging as mainstream questioning of the integrity of our sport is, of bigger concern to me is when doubts are expressed within the sport. The prosperity of a pursuit such as horse racing is reliant on all of the players, be they trainers, owners, jockeys, the betting public or racing fans, being confident that the playing field is level and that they can compete by playing by the rules. If that confidence is lost, fair-minded players will inevitably become disillusioned and the game will fall apart.

There will always be wrongdoers in any pursuit in life but these cases have raised doubts over just how widespread steroid use might be within racing. Many in racing have long assumed that the raceday drug testing procedures have kept the sport clean but when one hears of the illegal importation of commercial quantities of a steroid such as Nitrotain, which only remains detectable in horses for a couple of days after use, it is natural to have concerns over just how effectively raceday testing is in protecting the sport from cheats.

HARD EVIDENCE

In terms of hard evidence, there is very little to suggest that steroids are a major issue in Irish racing. There has never been a positive test for steroids in Ireland and, despite a wide range of intelligence-led raids and testing on equine properties in the wake of evidence uncovered during the Fenton/Hughes cases, no illegal substances were found and no positive tests emerged.

However, the fact remains that commercial quantities of hard-to-detect Nitrotain were being imported to Ireland, seemingly over the course of many years, and we have to ask where it all went. Without any evidence, however, speculation is as far as it can be taken.

HIGH-RISK BEHAVIOUR

My own opinion is that, while steroid use may have been an issue in Irish racing, it was almost certainly a very marginal one. While using Nitrotain might seem quick, effective and low-risk to an outsider, given its ease of administration and short withdrawal period, taking the decision to engage in anything illegal and potentially ruinous for a professional is never that straightforward.

Put yourself inside the head of a trainer who is considering using steroids on his horses. You have to find a supplier to buy it off. Can you trust that supplier implicitly? If the supplier is caught, will they name their customers to reduce their own penalty? After the drugs are bought, can you hide their administration from your staff? If not, who do you trust enough to help you? If you fall out with that staff member at a later date, can you be sure that they won’t tell others or the authorities about your cheating? What if you are unlucky and Turf Club officials pay you a visit to carry out tests the day after one of your horses has been given the drug?

If any one of these ever-present dangers become a reality, there is a high price to pay. The disgrace of a court case under the glare of the media. The financial and possibly even custodial penalties that the judge deems fit to impose on you.

If warned off by the Turf Club then your livelihood is taken away and you are unlikely to be employable in the sport again. Imagine being socially outcast from all your friends and acquaintances in racing as licenced persons are not allowed to associate with a warned-off individual. Not to mention a lingering doubt being put over each and every one of your previous career successes. Surely such heavy prices are enough to discourage only the most foolhardy, brazen and/or desperate from taking such a chance?

MAJOR DETERRENT

If that wasn’t already the case, now that a high-profile trainer has been caught and that the Turf Club is introducing significantly more stringent measures to discourage and detect drug use, including the opening of a confidential telephone line, one suspects that all of the above risks will be even more prominent in the minds of potential wrongdoers than ever before and will act as a major deterrent.

POLICING CRUCIAL

As I regularly write in this column, I firmly believe that Irish racing has the potential to be the best in the world. However, we are a long way from earning that title just yet and getting the crucial issue of the policing of drugs in racing right is a hugely important part of that process.

With that in mind, it is mind-boggling that the Turf Club and HRI are having such problems agreeing on levels of increased funding for improving testing facilities at the laboratory that the Turf Club uses in Limerick. They even had to call in an arbitrator to sort it out. Surely this is not the time to be squabbling over money in relation to such an important issue and it is a case where the greater and common good should prevail?

As damaging as the Fenton/Hughes cases have been, they have acted as a catalyst to spring the Turf Club into further action on the issue and, in the fullness of time, one can only hope that we will look back on these sorry cases as a turning point in the war against wrongdoers in Irish horse racing.