Journalists Wandering Eyes Posted July 3 Journalists Posted July 3 Non Raceday Request for a Ruling – Written Decision dated 2 July 2026 – GETAWAY ID: RIB68522 Respondent(s): Kurtis Antony Pertab - Trainerhttps://bitofayarn.com Applicant: Mr R Carr - Senior Investigator RIB Adjudicators: Hon J W Gendall KC (Chair), Mr M Godber Persons Present: Nil - on the papers Information Number: A17908 Decision Type: Race Related Charge Charge: Prohibited Substance in horse - Methamphetamine Rule(s): 804(1)(i) - Prohibited substance Stewards Report Results Animal Name: GETAWAY Code: Thoroughbred Race Date: 22/04/2026 Race Club: Rotorua Racing Club Race Location: Arawa Park Racecourse - 274 - 287 Fenton Street, Glenhome, Rotorua, 3010https://bitofayarn.com Race Number: R5 Hearing Date: 02/07/2026https://bitofayarn.com Hearing Location: N/A on the papers Outcome: Determination Penalty: N/A 1. The filly GETAWAY owned by Windsor Park Stud Ltd and trained by Mr K Pertab, contested in, and finished first, in Race 5, the Maiden 2 and 3 year olds 1400 metre event, earning a stake of $9,520.50. A post race urine swab was on later analysis on 11 May 2026, found to have raced with the Prohibited Substances Methamphetamine and Amphetamine in its metabolism. The analysis was confirmed on 2 June 2026 by the Victoria, Australia, Racing Analytical Services Ltd (RASL). 2. Pursuant to Rule 804(1)(i), it is mandatory that the horse be disqualified from the race. 3. Separately, Mr Pertab was on 16 June 2026, charged with a breach of Rule 804(6) of failing to present the horse to engage in Race 5, free of the Prohibited Substance, Methamphetamine.https://bitofayarn.com 4. Mr Pertab has not yet entered a formal plea – whether of admission or denial – of the breach of the Rule. Counsel has advised the Adjudicative Committee at its teleconference on 1 July 2026, that the Owner of GETAWAY accepts that the horse must be disqualified and made no other submissions. 5. Rule 804(1)(i) provides, where relevant “A horse which has been brought to a Racecourse …. and which is found by a Tribunal conducting an inquiry …. to have had present in its metabolism, a Prohibited Substance shall be, in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed, disqualified for any Race ….” 6. This Ruling relates only to the disqualification of GETAWAY and the consequential revised placings. The Information against Mr Pertab will be heard on 5 August 2026. 7. In accordance with the mandatory provision in Rule 804(1)(i), GETAWAY is disqualified from the race and its win. As there remains only 5 starters in the race, there is no revised 6th placing. Accordingly, the official placings now are:https://bitofayarn.com 1st KENWOOD HOUSE (No. 13) 2nd HAPPY TRAVELLER (No. 6) 3rd WAVE RULER (No. 1) 4th BEABOPALULA (No. 😎 5th ELLERTON (No. 9) The payment of revised stakes entitlements are to be made appropriately. Decision Date: 02/07/2026 Publish Date: 03/07/2026 Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 3 Posted July 3 No doubt we will see the Bush Lawyers of the Internet baying for the hanging of the Trainer asserting deliberate administration. Who in their right mind would administer a Class A prohibited drug to their horse when it is so easily detectable? Quote
curious Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) 3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: No doubt we will see the Bush Lawyers of the Internet baying for the hanging of the Trainer asserting deliberate administration. Who in their right mind would administer a Class A prohibited drug to their horse when it is so easily detectable? Good question? Could be contamination of course which will no doubt be argued. Edited July 3 by curious Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 3 Posted July 3 13 minutes ago, curious said: Good question? Could be contamination of course which will no doubt be argued. More than likely environmental contamination or possibly sabotage. No Trainer would administer meth to a horse for heaps of reasons. But we haven't and are unlikely to see the recorded levels. The threshold is zero regardless of what level would enhance performance. Quote
curious Posted July 3 Posted July 3 34 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: More than likely environmental contamination or possibly sabotage. No Trainer would administer meth to a horse for heaps of reasons. But we haven't and are unlikely to see the recorded levels. The threshold is zero regardless of what level would enhance performance. They might administer anything if they thought they could get away with it, no? I would think the levels will be in the case report won't they? Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 3 Posted July 3 1 hour ago, curious said: They might administer anything if they thought they could get away with it, no? You'd be a dumb arse administering anything with todays tech. All Trainers know that. Environmental or sabotage. 1 hour ago, curious said: would think the levels will be in the case report won't they? The RIB has a policy of not publishing the levels which I think is wrong. But zero is the threshold. Quote
curious Posted July 3 Posted July 3 Assuming it is trace level contamination and he pleads guilty of presenting, what penalty would he get? Quote
Huey Posted July 3 Posted July 3 10 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: You'd be a dumb arse administering anything with todays tech. All Trainers know that. Environmental or sabotage. Youd be a dumb arse to be arguing that these cheats wouldn't do it , especially a trainer with the animal welfare record of this guy! Not to mention his incredible turn around in form. His stable colour's match your Tangerine onesie or something? Quote
Shad Posted July 3 Posted July 3 No a decision as such, guess the rest be a long drawn out process. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 4 hours ago, Huey said: Youd be a dumb arse to be arguing that these cheats wouldn't do it There is nothing to be gained by doing it intentionally as it is easily detectable within 5 days of administration. Any PED benefit would require administration very close to racing. 4 hours ago, Huey said: Not to mention his incredible turn around in form. "Incredible turn around in form" - uh? It easily won a trial 15 days prior to the race it was DQ'd from. Note it has run 3 very good races since the DQ. A 4th, 2nd and a win at its last start. 4 hours ago, Huey said: His stable colour's match your Tangerine onesie or something? Sorry I have the cap, tie, blazer but not the windbreaker or onesie yet. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 9 hours ago, curious said: Assuming it is trace level contamination and he pleads guilty of presenting, what penalty would he get? I find it a bit incongruous that you have to plead guilty of presenting even if you had no idea the horse would return a positive. That said under the rules he has no option but to plead guilty and then argue the penalty. Once again at excessive cost to the Trainer and the industry. If Getaway had been swabbed at the Trials it won (does the RIB do that?) then it could be argued that it came in contact with the drug in the following 14 days. If the level of contamination is very very small then it could be argued that it was environmental contamination. A further mitigation could have been obtained if all Pertabs staff were drug tested via hair testing. Hair testing would have proven if any staff had been using the drug. So arguably Pertab could mitigate the penalty to a fine but then you have all the drama of previous charges being reviewed. But as I have posted many times on BOAY for a long time environmental contamination of drugs that are highly prevalent in society is a real problem especially when there is a zero tolerance threshold for some of them. I had a discussion with someone recently who managed a large plant and he said when he introduced workplace drug testing he told the contracted tester and policy adviser that he wanted zero tolerance. The contractor replied that if he pursued that policy he would have no staff left in two months! Quote
curious Posted July 4 Posted July 4 20 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: If Getaway had been swabbed at the Trials it won (does the RIB do that?) Yes they do and test trainers and staff as we know from the Cole case. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 3 minutes ago, curious said: Yes they do and test trainers and staff as we know from the Cole case. So Getaway acquired the meth sometime in the next 14 days. Will be interesting to see the level but the RIB very rarely publish that. Quote
curious Posted July 4 Posted July 4 4 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: So Getaway acquired the meth sometime in the next 14 days. Will be interesting to see the level but the RIB very rarely publish that. I don't know that the horse was tested on that trial day. Imo he is sitting on the fringe between a hefty fine and/or suspension. It seems the levels and any evidence to support the contamination argument will be key. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Interesting conclusion from the attached paper. What is the NZ minimum threshold? A cluster of trace-concentration methamphetamine identifications in racehorses associated with a methamphetamine-contaminated horse trailer: A report and analysis Kimberly Brewer, Theodore F. Shults, Jacob Machin, Sucheta Kudrimoti, Rodney L. Eisenberg, Petra Hartman, Caroline Wang, Clara Fenger, Pierre Beaumier, Thomas Tobin Abstract — Three low concentration methamphetamine “positive” tests were linked to use of a methamphetaminecontaminated trailer to transport the affected horses. This incident establishes methamphetamine as a human-use substance that can inadvertently enter the environment of racing horses, resulting in urinary methamphetamine “positives;” an interim regulatory cut-off of 15 ng/mL for methamphetamine in post-race urine is proposed. Methamphetamine, a substance of human use/abuse, can inadvertently become part of the environment of racing horses, yielding trace urinary methamphetamine “positives” in postrace testing. As such, there is a need to establish a cut-off or threshold for methamphetamine in equine drug testing, as has been done for other environmental substances (caffeine, BZE, morphine, etc.) to avoid unjustly penalizing the connections of the horse and tarnishing the image of racing. We therefore suggest an interim urinary threshold/cut-off for methamphetamine of at least 15 ng/mL, similar to thresholds already established for other environmental substances, and well below the 500 ng/mL cut-off used by the US Department of Health and Human Services in human workplace drug testing. This interim threshold would be appropriate prima facie until a review leads to a formal regulatory decision to establish a threshold that takes into account metabolite concentrations and effects of other variables, such as urine pH, on racehorse sample concentrations. While it may need to be raised or lowered in the future, 15 ng/mL is at this time a conservative estimate based upon the current findings in the case presented. A Cluster of Trace-Concentration Methamphetamine Identifications.pdf Quote
curious Posted July 4 Posted July 4 15 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Interesting conclusion from the attached paper. What is the NZ minimum threshold? I thought you said it was zero? Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 7 minutes ago, curious said: I thought you said it was zero? I meant Zero tolerance but I don't know what the testing threshold is. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 The problem with this debate though is very few are willing to rationally and objectively discuss the issues. Instead the Racing Industry ends up hoisting itself on its own petard. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 A case from the USA reported January 2026 - well worth reading. High Horse Debate: A Trainer’s Suspension Tests Views on Meth Exposure In a case that reads like a mashup of Seabiscuit and Breaking Bad, a New Mexico judge stepped in last month to block the state racing commission’s summary suspension of a prominent, Oklahoma-based horse trainer after one of his quarter horses tested positive for trace amounts of methamphetamine following a race in Albuquerque, N.M., last fall. The trainer, Michael Wayne Joiner, has maintained that neither he nor his team intentionally or inadvertently administered the drug to the 4-year-old horse, Js on Fire. Instead, Joiner argues that the positive test most likely stemmed from environmental exposure—specifically, contact with meth users allegedly living illegally in the barns at the Downs at Albuquerque, a racetrack situated on the edge of a high-crime area known locally as the “War Zone.” There, on Oct. 19, Js on Fire finished second in the American Quarter Horse Association Racing Challenge Championship. Eleven days later, the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) was notified by its third-party testing lab, Industrial Laboratories in Denver, that the horse’s post-race blood sample had come back positive for D-methamphetamine. That is the more potent of the drug’s two isomers and can be found in both street meth and prescription medications such as Desoxyn. Js on Fire’s sample revealed 0.0485 nanogram per milliliter—or 48.5 picograms—which is an infinitesimal quantity equivalent to roughly 48 parts per trillion.https://bitofayarn.com In a petition for a temporary restraining order filed Dec. 13 in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court, Joiner pointed to his long, storied career in the sport—and largely unblemished disciplinary record—while seeking to downplay the significance of the lab’s latest finding. By way of context, he noted that a veterinarian employed by the state racing commission had once likened a full nanogram to one-nineteenth of a single grain of sand on a beach. To date, the 69-year-old Joiner’s horses have won a combined $32.1 million across 6,473 starts, finishing first in more than 1,000 races and taking 78 graded stakes wins. Attached to Joiner’s filing was a 2022 article from a local TV station documenting the scourge of barn squatters at the Albuquerque Downs, including an incident in which police caught one trespassing individual using meth on the premises. “Unfortunately, and with all due respect to the Downs of Albuquerque and its location, things have really changed over the years,” Joiner wrote to the court. “The public perception of the area … has been mentioned on public forums as having issues with crime and drug activity lurking around.” In a phone interview, Joiner credited his lawyer, Billy Ray Blackburn, for coming up with that specific line of defense. However, given the prevalence of the drug in America, Joiner says horse racing commissions like New Mexico’s should adopt minimal thresholds to account for unavoidable environmental exposure to the drug. “It is on money just like with cocaine,” Joiner said. “There can be contamination from almost anywhere.” Pushing back against any suggestion of intentional wrongdoing, Joiner proffered that the drug would be competitively counterproductive.https://bitofayarn.com “I am not a cheater, but if I am gonna cheat, I sure as hell am not going to use methamphetamine,” he said, though experts say that depending on the horse and dosage, D-methamphetamine, a stimulant, can indeed yield an unfair advantage. Almost exactly a year before Js on Fire’s failed test, another horse Joiner trains, Flying Sophia, tested positive for methamphetamine following a race at Lone Star Park in Texas. However, in a ruling last May, the Lone Star Park Board of Stewards cited “mitigating circumstances” in declining to suspend or penalize joiner, beyond disqualifying the horse in that race. In any case, Joiner’s situation reflects a broader debate within horse racing over how to regulate substances commonly abused by humans and detectable in vanishingly small amounts with sophisticated laboratory technology. Richard Sams, a veterinary pharmacologist and leading expert on equine drug testing, argues that the blood test threshold for methamphetamine should be set between 1 and 10ng/ml—a magnitude of order greater than the amount found in Js on Fireand many other horses whose trainers have faced punishment. Absent reasonable testing thresholds, Sams contends, the sport invites needless controversy and imposes unnecessary hardship on its participants. “It is detrimental to racing,” Sams said in a phone interview. “People who aren’t involved in racing will see findings for substances like methamphetamine and cocaine and heroin in racehorses, and their immediate reaction is, ‘It shouldn’t be there.’” Sams, now professor emeritus at Ohio State University, previously ran the racing laboratory at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and he was the inaugural director of HFL Sport Science lab in Lexington, Ky., which later became the LGC Lab. Sams got his start in the field in the mid-1970s, joining Ohio State’s horse racing laboratory just as methamphetamine was gaining recognition as an increasingly prevalent, illicit performance-enhancing drug given to horses.https://bitofayarn.com “We weren’t even thinking of environmental risks at that time,” Sams said. Back then, he explained, equine drug testing for horses relied on gas chromatography, a process in which a sample of blood or urine is injected into a machine that separates it into their constituent components. Those components were then analyzed by a spectrometer, producing a unique molecular fingerprint for any drug present. In the late 1980s, veterinary scientists at the University of Kentucky, under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Tobin, advanced the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests in horse racing that dramatically increased the rates of detection. With this improved technology, Tobin began flagging concerns about environmental contamination as a source of unexplained substances—like morphine and cocaine—turning up in racehorse samples. Tobin became an early advocate for establishing regulatory thresholds to distinguish intentional administration from environmental exposure to drugs commonly abused by humans. In 2016, Tobin co-authored a paper analyzing an incident in which low concentration positive tests in the urine of three racehorses were linked to a trailer that had been contaminated by methamphetamine. In light of the findings, the paper proposed a testing limit of 15 ng/ML in post-race urine testing. Three years later, Dr. Heather Knych, a clinical veterinary pharmacologist at UC Davis, published a seminal study examining the “pharmacodynamic effects” of methamphetamine in horses. The study involving six thoroughbreds showed little evidence of performance enhancement despite measurable exposure to the drug. The findings also demonstrated the high sensitivity of modern testing methods and the plausibility of accidental exposure. In light of Knych’s work, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), the congressionally authorized private nonprofit that regulates thoroughbred racing nationwide, has proposed a minimum reporting threshold of 0.1 nanograms per milliliter for methamphetamine and reduced penalties for positive results. The proposal, which just completed a public comment period, is expected to be submitted in the coming months to the Federal Trade Commission, which under federal law must sign off on any HISA rules changes before they can take effect. https://bitofayarn.com The FTC previously declined to act on similar proposed changes to HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) rules in 2023, shortly after they were first introduced. Methamphetamine is one of over 1,000 regulated or banned substances by HISA—and far from the most commonly detected. In 2024, HIWU collected and analyzed over 76,000 samples, producing 364 “adverse analytical findings.” Methamphetamine accounted for only 12 of them. Among prohibited substances, the asthma medication clenbuterol generated the most findings (23), while restricted therapeutic drugs, such as the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication phenylbutazone (49 findings) and the corticosteroid dexamethasone (40), were responsible for the greatest share of positives overall. Js on Fire is one of just three horses to have tested positive for methamphetamine under the New Mexico Racing Commission in the past decade, according to public records obtained by Sportico. Nonetheless, against the backdrop of last decade’s spike in human meth overdoses in the United States, headlines like “Racehorse Tests Positive for Meth” all but scream for attention. This dynamic presents a political and public-relations problem for those seeking to chart a middle ground between strict liability and laissez faire.https://bitofayarn.com “A banned substance by definition should not be present in a horse at any time at any concentration,” said Dr. Michael Hardy, the acting chief of science for HISA’s Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), “so providing a minimum level by which a substance is reported could be perceived as permissive of that substance being present … I think the distinction here is that the industry recognizes there is another component at play, which is human substances of abuse, and potential exposures otherwise, so how do we provide a regulatory framework to consider both of those?” If HISA’s new policies are approved by the FTC, it would only cover thoroughbreds. The organization lacks jurisdiction over quarter horses, such as Js on Fire, or other racing breeds, which are instead regulated by state commissions that operate under reciprocal enforcement agreements but do not uniformly adopt testing thresholds or methods. The New Mexico Racing Commission—like most state racing authorities and HISA—currently operates under a zero-tolerance policy for banned substances. As a result, any detected amount identified by Industrial Laboratories automatically triggers disciplinary proceedings, as it did in Joiner’s case. A widely accepted principle holds that horse trainers serve as the absolute gatekeepers of the animals in their care, accountable for both affirmative conduct and failures over oversight, and face the harshest consequences when drug tests come back positive. Thus, Js on Fire’s owner, Joshua Owens, stands to lose only the purse from last October and the opportunity to race this one horse for two months; Joiner, on the other hand, faces a potential multiyear banishment from the sport. Ishmael “Izzy” Trejo, the executive director of the NMRC since 2016, says his group is open to establishing testing thresholds for methamphetamine, but he pushed back on the notion that the substance is so ubiquitous that trainers cannot be reasonably expected to keep it entirely out of their horses’ post-race samples. If that were the reality, Trejo submits, it would stand to reason that his commission would have discovered many more than just three positive tests over the last 10 years.https://bitofayarn.com On Oct. 1, the day after the NMRC was notified of Js on Fire’s positive result, Joiner was summarily suspended. One month later, he appeared remotely at an administrative hearing before the board of stewards of another New Mexico race track, Penn Entertainment-owned Zia Park in Hobbs, to argue that the summary suspension should be lifted pending the outcome of the full proceedings. The stewards declined, and the suspension stood, effectively barring him from competing anywhere in the country. Joiner’s most immediate concern, which prompted his lawsuit, was his ability to compete this spring at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, where he has raced for decades. For Remington’s upcoming season, which begins in March, Joiner had planned to race more than 80 horses on behalf of roughly 35 owners. Had the summary suspension remained in effect, Joiner told the court, he would have been unable to submit his stall application before the Dec. 29 deadline. The resulting fallout, he argued, would have been “financially devastating” for him and would have left those owners the nearly impossible challenge of securing replacement trainers with just weeks’ notice. In further support of his petition, Joiner submitted a 2024 paper co-authored by Tobin examining trace-level methamphetamine detections in racehorses. After reviewing the latest available HIWU positive drug test data, Tobin and his collaborators concluded that “a simple low nanogram/ml or less identification of methamphetamine in a jugular blood/plasma/serum sample is most likely evidence of nothing more than inadvertent environmental exposure of the horse to a pharmacologically insignificant amount of environmental methamphetamine.” In his petition, Joiner noted that despite the positive test, none of the owners of horses he trains had asked him to resign, a “testament to the fact that he does not pose a danger to the horse racing industry.” Trejo countered that that Flying Sophia’s positive test in October 2024 called that claim into question, though Joiner maintains that the Lone Star Park stewards’ ruling vindicated him. In arriving at their decision, the stewards cited “mitigating circumstances” that included the fact that meth is known to be found in horses due to human contamination and that there was no evidence the drug was administered by Joiner or any of his employees.https://bitofayarn.com Two other horses had tested positive for methamphetamine in races at Lone Star Park within weeks of Flying Sophia’s race, including Flyin Rabbit 123, handled by another prominent trainer, Toby Keeton, who was summarily suspended. Last February, the NMRC imposed a reciprocal suspension on Keeton in response to the Texas Racing Commission’s ruling and after of seven of his horses had tested positive for the bronchodilator Carmoterol after race in Ruidoso, N.M., the previous September. Keeton subsequently filed suit against the NMRC in March 2025, using the same attorney, Blackburn, who is representing Joiner. (Blackburn did not respond to an interview request.) A court denied Keeton’s request for a temporary restraining order that would lift his suspension pending the results of additional lab testing of the horses’ samples. He also remains suspended in Texas. Before Joiner, NMRC’s last methamphetamine positive test dated to 2017, when trainer Gerald E. Marr was issued a summary suspension after his horse, Alpha Doll, produced an adverse finding following a race in Ruidoso. Marr later overturned the suspension after presenting evidence that the horse had been contaminated by someone outside his control who came into contact with the animal after breaching security. Marr identified the likely source as a man who had approached him seeking a job before the race. NMRC records show Marr later lured the man to Zia Park, where racetrack security drug tested him, revealing that the man had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system. Although Marr conceded that he did not witness the man smoking meth around the horse, the hearing officer overseeing his disciplinary case cited that circumstnaces as mitigating and recommended the trainer’s suspension be lifted. As for Joiner, Following the court’s injunction last month, he successfully submitted his stall application for the Remington Park ahead of deadline. He is now awaiting the results from the split sample for Js on Fire that he sent off to a lab in Kentucky, to see if it either confirms or contradicts the positive test reported by Industrial Labs. Absent scientific evidence clearing him, Joiner is left to press his environmental-contaminant defense.https://bitofayarn.com Sams performed a calculation for Sportico estimating the total amount of methamphetamine in the horse’s system at the time of the sample’s collection. He came up with 110 micrograms—equivalent to one-fourth of the dose investigated by Knych in her 2019 study. That amount, says Sams, “produces no detectable effect.” Under the New Mexico Administrative Code, the recommended penalty for a methamphetamine positive in a racing horse ranges from a minimum suspension of one year to a maximum of three. At this stage of Joiner’s life, however, any suspension could amount to a forced early retirement. “I am pushing 70 years old,” Joiner said. “So, I don’t know what I would do.” Quote
curious Posted July 4 Posted July 4 14 February 2026, 1:57am Waikato horse trainer Ival Brownlee banned for 16.5 months after winning horse tests positive for meth From NZ Herald Caption:Trainer Ival Brownlee has been disqualified from racing for 18 months.Photo credit:123rf A winning racehorse that tested positive for methamphetamine was likely contaminated with the drug by its trainer. Now, Ival Brownlee won't be able to race or train horses for the next 16.5 months, after also testing positive for the drug, despite denying taking it. According to a summary of facts released by the Racing Integrity Board (RIB), Brownlee entered the seven-year-old mare Emily Bay into a Waikato Harness Club race in Cambridge at the end of October last year. The horse won its race and was swabbed and urine tested, and a month later, when the tests were returned, it was found to have methamphetamine in its system. In a social media post on 13 February Harness Racing New Zealand congratulated Ival Brownlee on his 100th race win as a trainer. He achieved the milestone with Emily Bay, the same horse that tested positive for meth in October 2025. Screengrab Racing investigators then visited Brownlee's training site in Pōkeno and both he and his father, who owns the horse, consented to be drug tested as well. Forensic swabs were also taken of the truck used to transport the horse and the stables, which were clear of traces of the Class A drug. While a urine sample taken from Brownlee was also clear, a hair follicle sample returned a positive result for methamphetamine, amphetamine, and THC Acid. Brownlee claimed he hadn't used meth since 2012. While none of Brownlee's horses have ever failed a drug test before now, he was disqualified from the racing industry in 2012 for a positive meth test, and again in 2015 after racing investigators found cannabis in his system. The RIB then pressed charges against Brownlee, seeking his disqualification from the industry and noting that methamphetamine use struck at the heart of the industry's "social licence". "The mere presence of the substance has the potential to undermine public confidence in racing outcomes," the board said. "The need for general deterrence is particularly acute in methamphetamine cases due to the known risks of contamination and the seriousness of the drug involved." The board said that exposure to methamphetamine posed a significant animal welfare issue with animals. It also noted that the breach occurred on a race day and that the horse won its race. After initially denying taking the substance, Brownlee admitted the charge before the board. However, he made the point that he didn't intentionally administer the drug to the horse, rather it got into the animal's system by exposure to Brownlee's own use. Brownlee also noted that while he had two prior disqualifications for drug use, these were both more than a decade prior, and he had no breaches in regard to his animals. Brownlee said that an 18-month disqualification was too heavy, and that he had already lost the $4400 winning stake after the horse was disqualified, and would suffer reputational damage in the racing industry. An adjudicative committee of the board met at the start of February 2026 and found that the presence of methamphetamine in Brownlee's hair sample suggested long-term use as opposed to a one-off. "Methamphetamine is classified as a Class A Drug and is recognised as a powerful central nervous system stimulant. "Its ingestion by a racehorse (thoroughbred or standardbred) constitutes a significant animal welfare concern... the respondent should have known the risks and consequences of methamphetamine use and contamination, making the breach more serious. "He ought to have understood the potential for contamination and its repercussions." Brownlee is far from the first trainer to have contaminated his animals with the Class A substance. In 2022, both Darren Smith and his horse Tazimoto tested positive for methamphetamine following a race win in Ruakākā. The board noted at the time that methamphetamine detections were becoming more common in racing. The same year, Whanganui jockey Rochelle Lockett was slapped with a three-year ban from racing after both she and horse Be Flexi were found with the drug in their system, also following a race win. SPCA's senior scientific officer, Dr Alison Vaughan, told NZME that most of what scientists know about how drugs affect animals comes from reports and theory rather than controlled studies. "But the risks are very well recognised," she said. "Even indirect exposure is a welfare concern." Vaughan said that an animal, such as a horse, could experience high blood pressure and heart rate, as well as tremors and a lack of co-ordination in low doses. In severe cases, there could be a risk of seizures. Vaughan said that it was her understanding that animals are more susceptible to drug exposure than humans, and that horses have a larger cardiovascular output, meaning they metabolise substances differently. "I think the point is that any exposure is a potential welfare concern and should be treated very seriously." Brownlee's disqualification will start on 19 Febuary and will end on 24 June 2027. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 So what's your point @curious with the NZ Herald article? The Harness Trainer mentioned had prior form. 25 minutes ago, curious said: SPCA's senior scientific officer, Dr Alison Vaughan, told NZME that most of what scientists know about how drugs affect animals comes from reports and theory rather than controlled studies. "But the risks are very well recognised," she said. "Even indirect exposure is a welfare concern." Vaughan said that an animal, such as a horse, could experience high blood pressure and heart rate, as well as tremors and a lack of co-ordination in low doses. The SPCA "Senior Scientific Officer" needs to avail herself of the latest research. Quote
curious Posted July 4 Posted July 4 No particular point, just appears to be a comparable case which will likely be used as a precedent in the Cole case. Interesting the RIB invited the trainer and his Dad to be tested which strengthened their contamination case as it turned out. Are you saying there are controlled studies that Dr. Vaughan is overlooking? Quote
Chief Stipe Posted July 4 Posted July 4 20 minutes ago, curious said: Are you saying there are controlled studies that Dr. Vaughan is overlooking? Detection, pharmacokinetics, and selected pharmacodynamic effects of methamphetamine following a single transmucosal and intravenous administration to exercised Thoroughbred horses Heather K Knych 1 2, Rick M Arthur 3, Kirsten L Kanarr 1, Dan S McKemie 1, Philip H Kass 4 Affiliations Expand PMID: 31218824 DOI: 10.1002/dta.2661 Abstract Methamphetamine is a central and peripheral nervous system stimulant. There is only a single study that describes exposure to and disposition of this compound in horses. The potential for abuse and inadvertent exposure in equine athletes along with the limited data available necessitates further study. The objectives of the current study were to describe drug and metabolite concentrations, develop an analytical method that could be used to regulate its use, and describe selected pharmacodynamic effects. In phase 1, six horses were randomized into three transmucosal dose groups (n = 2/group; 0.5, 1.0 or 10 mg). In phase 2, horses received a single 10 mg intravenous dose. In phase 3, the effects of urinary pH on elimination were studied. Blood and urine samples were collected for up to 72 hours post drug administration. Concentrations of methamphetamine were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Methamphetamine was below the limit of detection (LOD) in blood by 2, 4, and 18 hours following transmucosal administration of 0.5, 1, and 10 mg, respectively. Following intravenous administration, methamphetamine fell below the LOD between 12 and 18 hours. Following urinary acidification, methamphetamine fell below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) by 12 hours. In urine, methamphetamine was no longer detected at 48, 48, and 72 hours in the 0.5, 1, and 10 mg transmucosal groups and 18 hours in the intravenous group. Increased urinary pH resulted in urinary concentrations of methamphetamine falling below detectable levels by 48 hours post transmucosal administration. While the number of animals was small, behavioral, stimulatory, and cardiac effects were minimal. Quote
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