It was revealed late yesterday that Ecstasy had been found in a point to point horse trained by Cormac Farrell in what is one of the strangest incidents of drugs being found in a horse.
The trainer has claimed it was a freak occurrence with no one to blame for the substance being found in his horse Get The Appeal, who the drug was located in after he won a point to point by 15 lengths at Monksgrange in Ireland back in March.
The handler overall was fined €1,500 as the MDMA that was found in the horse is obviously a banned substance and against the rules of the sport but with it being out of the trainers hands no ban has been sanctioned.
Farrell has been enthusiastic in explaining that he believes there was nothing he could have done to prevent this happening with his five year old having such minimal levels of Ecstasy.
(Credit The Racing Post) The Irishman explained: "It was a freak incident. It was a case of environmental contamination beyond anyone's control. The levels of the substance found in the horse were almost negligible and would have not even shown up in a human test."
The case went to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board at the start of this week with evidence being heard by the governing bodies and the trainer and his assistant, Mark Farrell.
Veterinary surgeon Hugh Dillon also gave evidence at the hearing and said that he believes the animal could have been exposed to the substance through human contact.
The IHRB overall after looking at all of the evidence decided to disqualify Get The Appeal and also gave Farrell the fine.
It is not a moment the trainer will want to reflect on his career and it really is one of the most strangest incidents for a long time to do with drug use in the sport.