Word is that a second horse was tested positive for a banned drug two weeks ago.

Hadeed said it would not be fair to the owner of a second-placed horse, if the winner comes back with a small trace of an illegal drug and that is allowed.

“No one can say if that minute trace of drug had any effect on the horse’s performance,” he noted.

The TTRA chairman appears not supportive of calls from the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) and Trainers Association to review its zero-tolerance policy regarding therapeutic medication.

Trainers are arguing that this policy is harming the sport by punishing them for low-level drug findings, detected through new ultra-sensitive testing procedures.

They claim that the TTRA has not published any stipulated threshold levels with respect to equine medication control, although the rules make reference to such.

Trainers are further arguing that minute traces of therapeutic medication do not enhance the performance of a horse.

The TTRA maintains that there is a zero-tolerance for all drugs, taking the position that no amount of these drugs whatsoever are permitted in horses racing here.

But one trainer noted that such claims are misleading because chemists cannot quantify down to zero.

“Professional chemists never certify that a sample contains zero drugs. All they can report is that no drug was detected and state the limit of detection of the method,” he added.

Most of the horses in training have varying types of injuries and they are being “patched up” to race with various types of illegal medication.

There is a time limit for the drugs to clear out of a horse’s system before the animal can race.

The Trainers Association has been meeting with the TTRA to resolve the issue.