Experienced Irish trainer Charles Byrnes has had his licence suspended for six months after the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board found a horse of his from 2018 was found to have tested positive for a sedative.
Byrnes' horse Viking Hoard was seen being pulled up at at Tramore in a handicap hurdle back in October 2018 at odds of 8/1 and after the race he was found to have tested positive for the sedative hydroxyethylpromazinehydroxide (HEPS) and a metabolite of acepromazine (ACP)
When delving deeper into the drugs in the horses system it showed that HEPS was found in extremely high concentration that exceeded the International Screening Limit.
It was estimated that on the day of the race the horse has taken in 1000 nanograms/millilitre of the drug which works out to 100 times the amount that was allowed to be in the horses system ahead of the race.
The committee established that Byrnes was negligent in his supervision of Viking Hoard on the day of the race, with it thought that an unidentified third party had administered the drug to the horse when left to its own devices.
This saw the Cheltenham festival winning trainer in breach of Rule 96(a) as a prohibited substance was present in the post-race sample taken and the board after over two years came the decision on Monday to fin the trainer €1,000 and also suspend his license for six months.