UK racing lurched back into crisis on Monday
UK racing lurched back into crisis on Monday as a second Newmarket trainer admitted to using anabolic steroids on his horses, reports the Racing Post.
It says: Gerard Butler has told the BHA that several of his horses received treatment consisting of injections of anabolic steroids for injured joints. The trainer believes more than 100 racehorses across Newmarket may have been given the same treatment. The news comes just days after Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni received an eight-year ban for administering anabolic steroids to 15 horses under his care, a scandal which thrust British racing into the worldwide media spotlight. However, unlike in the Al Zarooni case, Butler said the treatment came recommended by vets and included the injections in his official medical records which were seen and returned by the BHA without comment.
Gerard Butler told the Independent: "It did not cross my mind that there could be any problem with this medication. And, judging from the fact that the BHA said nothing about it when they saw my medical book, it does not seem to have crossed their minds, either." Butler believes the medication, known as Sungate and containing the steroid stanozolol, to have been commonly recommended by vets in Newmarket for the treatment of joint injuries.