Eve Johnson Houghton fined £1,000 by the British Horseracing Authority
Last Updated: 23/10/14 6:28pm
Eve Johnson Houghton was handed a £1,000 fine by the disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday as the hearings into positive tests for morphine on eight horses this season came to a conclusion in London.
Earlier this year seven horses tested positive for morphine, including the Queen's Estimate, and were all disqualified but no action was taken against the trainers as it was the BHA's position that the horses had encountered contaminated feed.
However, an eighth case, the Johnson Houghton-trained Charlie Wells who won at Chepstow in June, was heard separately by the BHA's disciplinary panel, as the other seven had used a Dodson & Horrell product, Alfalfa Oil Plus.
Johnson Houghton said: "I've been fined. It's disappointing but there you go, what can you do about it.
"The difference between my case and the others was that I use a straight feed and not a compound. The BHA felt that I should have traced it back further.
"I'm disappointed, but that's a line under the matter now and we can move on."
The panel heard that Johnson Houghton told investigating officers she obtained all feed products from supplier John Toomer & Sons. She had also stated that she liked to have a regular turnover of feed and did not keep more than was required for one week. She added that she did not keep samples of feedstuff nor record batch numbers.
Johnson Houghton informed the BHA that all the horses on her yard were also fed a 'mash', which she prepared on the yard using raw materials. One of the ingredients was linseed which was boiled on the yard. The linseed, which was supplied via a chain of wholesalers, was sourced from GB Seeds, a company that specialises in bird seed.
A sample of the linseed had been obtained by the BHA chief veterinary officer in which various other types of material had been identified, suggesting possible contamination of the produce.
A portion of this sample of linseed had also been sent for a full scan analysis and no prohibited substance had been found. Johnson Houghton had instructed Independent Equine Nutrition to conduct an independent analysis of the same bag of linseed and the result of this analysis was positive for morphine. The panel noted that Johnson Houghton mixes bags of linseed which could have explained the inconsistencies of the materials contained in the samples analysed.
The panel heard that it had not been possible to identify the source of the morphine and codeine in the sample of Charlie Wells. However, the BHA had accepted that the source of the prohibited substances was likely to have been either contamination of the raw materials used to produce the mash that was fed to the horse, or contamination when mixing the mash itself on Johnson Houghton's yard.
After considering the evidence, including submissions from Johnson Houghton, the panel was unable to establish the source of the substance, and could not therefore be satisfied that the administration of the substance was accidental and imposed a fine.