FINAL DEMAND HAS been disqualified from second place in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham in March and trainer Willie Mullins was fined a total of €1,300 (£1,100).
The findings of an independent British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel were published on Monday, following a fast-track referral for admitted rule breaches.
The panel said that “contrary to Rule (K)2.2, Final Demand ran in the Grade One event at the Festival on March 11 with a Category B Prohibited Substance (mepivacaine) in its body”.
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In breach of Rule (J)24.2, the panel found Mullins “failed to declare use of mepivacaine on the horse in its medical declaration forms submitted prior to the race”, in which the seven-year-old was beaten three-quarters of a length by stablemate Kitzbuhel.
The BHA has a published detection time of 72 hours for mepivacaine, a local anaesthetic commonly administered to thoroughbred horses in the UK for therapeutic purposes.
Sarah Crowther KC, judicial panel chair, said that the “BHA and Mr Mullins have agreed the proposed sanctions, which in my judgment are appropriate having regard to the Table of Penalties”.
Willie Mullins horse tests positive for prohibited substance at 2026 Cheltenham Festival
FINAL DEMAND HAS been disqualified from second place in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham in March and trainer Willie Mullins was fined a total of €1,300 (£1,100).
The findings of an independent British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel were published on Monday, following a fast-track referral for admitted rule breaches.
The panel said that “contrary to Rule (K)2.2, Final Demand ran in the Grade One event at the Festival on March 11 with a Category B Prohibited Substance (mepivacaine) in its body”.
In breach of Rule (J)24.2, the panel found Mullins “failed to declare use of mepivacaine on the horse in its medical declaration forms submitted prior to the race”, in which the seven-year-old was beaten three-quarters of a length by stablemate Kitzbuhel.
The BHA has a published detection time of 72 hours for mepivacaine, a local anaesthetic commonly administered to thoroughbred horses in the UK for therapeutic purposes.
Sarah Crowther KC, judicial panel chair, said that the “BHA and Mr Mullins have agreed the proposed sanctions, which in my judgment are appropriate having regard to the Table of Penalties”.
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Final Demand Horse Racing Willie Mullins