BHA confirms positive test as Hughie Morrison fights to clear his name
Trainer says he will do everything in his power to prove himself innocent
Hughie Morrison has pre-empted disciplinary charges from the BHA by issuing the strongest possible defence of himself and his staff, having revealed that Our Little Sister tested positive for an anabolic steroid at Wolverhampton on January 14.
The BHA confirmed the positive test on Thursday afternoon and said that the matter would be passed to its disciplinary panel.
Morrison is one of the training fraternity’s most vocal advocates of clean racing and is offering a £10,000 reward for information which could help to shed light on how and when nandrolone got into Our Little Sister’s system.
"The point to make is that any trainer that gives a horse an anabolic steroid is committing professional suicide," said Morrison. "If you give it something to enhance its chances of winning and it is going to be tested, it’s madness."
It is understood Morrison first received notice of the failed test on February 3 but had to wait until now - a matter of hours after he went public with the failed test - for the BHA to formally charge him with an offence which carries a ban with an entry level of two years and an upper limit of ten.
Morrison has called in a United States-based expert as well as the Thames Valley Police in an effort to prove outside meddling, going to the lengths of commissioning a hair analysis for Our Little Sister.
"We had 77 horses tested three weeks later and they were all clear, including Our Little Sister,” said Morrison. “Clearly the horse only had one shot of the stuff from a source that we can’t find.
"We all know the rules of racing. I am the responsible person and if there is a banned substance, I am guilty unless I can prove myself innocent. I have to do everything in my power to prove myself innocent."
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