PEOPLE with competing horses across all disciplines were advised this evening (Friday) not to feed Gain Equine Nutrition horse feeds which are at the centre of an investigation into contaminated product batches.

In a statement this evening, Gain Equine Nutrition advised its customers that it is investigating the potential presence of a contaminant in some batches of their equine feed range.

"Until further investigations are completed, Gain customers with competing horses are advised to refrain from feeding our products to their animals across all disciplines,'' said the statement on Gain's website.

The contaminant, Zilpaterol, is a synthetic beta-agonist approved for use as a performance-enhancer in some beef production systems outside of the EU.

News of the contamination came on the eve of the biggest weekend in racing with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe taking place in France on Sunday afternoon. Aidan O'Brien confirmed to media that his runners had been switched to Connolly's Red Mills feed once the issue became known on Thursday.

A statement from France Galop referred to Gain racehorse cubes, racehorse mix and its opti-care balancer nut.

Alert raised

The Gain Equine Nutrition statement said: "It is important to stress that this synthetic substance (Zilpaterol) has never formed part of any formulation in any of our animal nutrition ranges.

"A potential issue was first alerted to us based on positive test results from France Galop from some horses fed on our products in France.

"Following receipt of this information, our quality and control team immediately commenced testing our feed products, both retained samples and also product in the market," said the statement.

Positive tests

Immediately on receipt of a positive test result on some individual feed samples this morning, Gain Equine Nutrition commenced the process of notifying all the relevant authorities. "We are working closely with all appropriate agencies, including the Irish Department of Agriculture, to fully investigate the source of this contamination. We will provide a more detailed update once more information is available," said the statement.

Martin Ryan, Head of Gain Equine said: “We apologise sincerely to our valued customers for the inconvenience caused by this incident and we are committed to promptly keeping you fully informed. A thorough investigation and trace back of all feed ingredient sources is underway as a matter of urgency to determine how this external contaminant could have found its way into some batches of our equine product.”