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Nannina may forfeit Coronation crown following drugs test
by Rodney Masters
NANNINA (pic right) is likely to be stripped of her victory in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot for failing a drugs test, it was revealed on Thursday.
Trainer John Gosden and owners Cheveley Park Stud are awaiting the result of a secondary analysis - to be carried out at a laboratory overseas - but should that also return positive, their filly will almost certainly forfeit the race and its first prize of more than £150,000.
David and Patricia Thompson, who own Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, were understandably "shocked" after they received notification of the test on their homebred filly from the Horseracing Regulatory Authority.
They have ten other horses in training with Gosden at Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket.
In January this year, Gosden was fined £700 by the HRA's disciplinary panel after a positive test was returned by Mystical Land after he had landed a conditions stakes at Nottingham the previous August. A urine sample was found to contain the prohibitive substances phenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone.
At that inquiry, the panel informed Gosden that all the horses in his care would be the subject of examination and the taking of samples for analysis provided for in Rule 237 for the next 12 months.
Rule 237 allows entry to the stables for authorised people to take samples from horses for subsequent analysis, and also the same for feed and feed additives. In addition, they can carry out identification and vaccination checks, and take copies of records of treatments.
In 2002, Gosden appeared before the disciplinary panel after Social Order tested positive following an unplaced run in a maiden at Ayr. On that occasion, the urine was found to contain procaine, another prohibited substance. He was fined £600. Nannina was a top class juvenile last year, when her three wins included the Group 1 Fillies' Mile. She was third favourite for the 1,000 Guineas in May, but she was unsuited by the soft ground and beat one rival. It was a different story in the Coronation Stakes last month, when she returned to her best to beat Mick Channon's Flashy Wings by two lengths.
That success continued a rewarding sequence for her owner-breeders, whose Confidential Lady, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, had won the French Oaks just 12 days earlier. At Royal Ascot, Cheveley Park also won the Royal Hunt Cup with Cesare, trained by James Fanshawe.
Following her Royal Ascot win, Nannina was sent off favourite for the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, but she was beaten three-quarters of a length by Clive Brittain's 50-1 shot Rajeem.
The secondary test of the sample taken from the filly will be carried out in one of four overseas laboratories, in either France, Germany, Hong Kong or South Africa. It is not known what substance(s)Nannina has tested positive for in the initial analysis.
Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud, said yesterday: "Mr and Mrs Thompson were shocked to receive notification of the positive test following the Coronation Stakes. It is too early to pass comment as tests relating to a well-established routine veterinary treatment are still on-going."
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