The end of season excitement of a rash of contaminated feed positive drug tests in Hong Kong racing, has concluded in an unusual fashion after the owners of two disqualified winners withdrew appeals this week.
Two Ricky Yiu-trained horses Yat Ding Win and Legend Express won at Sha Tin in early June then returned positive tests to the cattle feed supplement zilpaterol.
Those tests turned out to be the tip of the iceberg and the herald of yet more positive findings in horses from three different stables, which in turn revealed the contamination issues with the imported American compound feeds in use at Sha Tin.
As those feeds had apparently slipped through the Hong Kong Jockey Club testing regime, which takes place before feed is distributed by the club to its trainers, the club took some responsibility and Yiu was not punished when stewards inquired into his case.
However, stewards said that both horses were required to be disqualified under the rules.
The owners of Legend Express and Yat Ding Win initially appealed those disqualifications but withdrew again this week after the American feed supplier, LMF Feeds Incorporated, agreed to compensate them for any loss of prizemoney due to the zilpaterol findings.
Meanwhile, Australian media outlets have been reporting a shortage of the vaccine for equine influenza and its potential threat to horse exports from Down Under to Asia, but Hong Kong imports from the region have apparently been unaffected.
According to Jockey Club officials this week, there has been no interruption to the arrival of horses ahead of the new season’s racing, beginning September 8.
Forty four new arrivals have landed in July so far, but only two were from Australia and the vast majority came from New Zealand. The last large shipment of ex-Australian horses was a flight carrying 14 of them in late June.
By Nathan Mody
