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MDFM

carlybabe1 wrote: »

honestly, well, i wouldnt compete on my horse full stop. maybe i'm just soft, but i value my horse so so much that i would feel so guilty having to put him thro any pain just to jump a fence. there is no excuse now for lynch's ignorance. its a disgrace.

I agree with you there, personally I wouldn't have jumped my horse either if it was in pain but its hardly "just a fence" we're talkin the olympics here and showjumping is a livelyhood for all of the competitors. Its all fine takin the honourable route of "no way, I wouldnt do that," but realistically how many of you reckon you're in with a chance in the next 4 yrs???? Will I be bloggin here and braggin that I used to converse with ye on this very site?????? I dont think so, so while I'm pissed off and ashamed AND embarressed about the hole p**s poor carry on I'm rational enough to think we dont know the full story and probably wont till six months from now.....and I'd like to just remind yis all that while Cian was stripped of his gold, it only came out later that it was a SEDATIVE he had given his horse....hardly a perfomance enhancing drug...... different situation i know but i still reckon ill reserve judgement till they get home and we hear the full story. Always the optimist.........:eek: oh one last thing, if we really want to be honest the hole industry is rampant with the drug thing, from dosin the horses with sh%t to dosin yourself to drop weight in a hurry......[/quote]

It contained a banned substance that could possibly enhance the performance of the horse. Banned means banned in my books, Cian broke the rules and now Denis has done the same. There has to be zero tolerance when it comes to banned substances so there's no point in defending either Cian or Denis. It's the same thing i'm afraid. They've openly admitted to giving it to the horse, being ignorant is not in their defence and they are guilty.
As the story goes, what more do we need to know? A substance was applied to the horse, it contained a banned ingredient. He should have done his homework. We've come 4 years down the road since the last f**k up, he and everyone else in the industry has had plenty of time to prepare for the games and know what they can and can't give a horse. I don't buy any excuse from them to be honest.
Thanks to the whole lot of them we might not be sending our horses to the games again according to Pat Hickey.

skink

when will people realise how bad Pat hickey is, I recall jim Mcdaid calling him 'divisive, corrosive and a national embarrassment', which in my opinion is pretty spot on, ever since the set of the Irish Sports council, all the ICO has become is a hyped up travel agency for olympic athletes, hickey has another thing coming to him if he thinks this will stand any ground, the horse industry is too important in this country, and to realise it all you have to do it pick up the the latest edition of the irish field, and read the letters page.

What hickey has said about scandal, well pot, let me introduce you to kettle.

hellbent

fits wrote: »

And how would you define productivity? Horses are big business here.

I'm talking purely about the Olympics, when I use the word 'productive', in the sense of being medal candidates. No point spending time and money on equestrian events if the result each time is a scandal and national embarrassment.

I'm aware that horses are big business here, but surely you're not suggesting that all should be forgiven because the industry is all-important. That's a bit like the moral hazard involved in bailing out big banks because they 'can't be allowed to fail', irrespective of the extent of their irresponsible behavior. It would be a pity if such a scenario develops in this case.

Accept the consequences and rebuild public confidence over time.

carlybabe1

I agree with skink, if you look at all the rediculous games now in the olympics theres already plenty to axe, trampolining (I kid you not), bmx biking (for 14-16 year olds) and my personal favourite......womens beachball!!!!!!!!there might be a fight to keep that one in though, no doubt the legion of dirty oul fellas will be up in arms.... and though I know the chinese will disagree cause they got a gold but ping pong ball???????? f%^k sake, i thought they were supposed to be athletic games :rolleyes:

Bluefoam

carlybabe1 wrote: »

I agree with skink, if you look at all the rediculous games now in the olympics theres already plenty to axe, trampolining (I kid you not), bmx biking (for 14-16 year olds) and my personal favourite......womens beachball!!!!!!!!there might be a fight to keep that one in though, no doubt the legion of dirty oul fellas will be up in arms.... and though I know the chinese will disagree cause they got a gold but ping pong ball???????? f%^k sake, i thought they were supposed to be athletic games :rolleyes:

Self motivated twat. If you don't like those sports don't get involved.They are in the Olympics due to their popularity. They are skilled sports. If you narrowed the Olympics down to the most popular and commercial sports it would be called the world cup.

Ludo

carlybabe1 wrote: »

I agree with skink, if you look at all the rediculous games now in the olympics theres already plenty to axe, trampolining (I kid you not), bmx biking (for 14-16 year olds) and my personal favourite......womens beachball!!!!!!!!there might be a fight to keep that one in though, no doubt the legion of dirty oul fellas will be up in arms.... and though I know the chinese will disagree cause they got a gold but ping pong ball???????? f%^k sake, i thought they were supposed to be athletic games :rolleyes:

Silly post.

Being perfectly honest, following your argument here, showjumping would also be dropped from the olympics. A couple of those sports you think do not deserve to be in the olympics are far more popular and accessible to people worldwide than equestrian sports.

p.s this is not a criticism of equestrian sports as generally i enjoy watching showjumping in the olympics. It is a criticism of a silly post.

Thats enough crap.

Back on topic please. Next person gets a ban.

MDFM

Let Lynch be banned, serve his ban, learn from it and lets hope we can salvage something from it.

Kamili banned for a week.

The London Times

Fascinating article.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4598345.ece

The London Times wrote:

In every doping case there is a human story. In this case it was a fairytale. Denis Lynch arrived in Beijing with the best horse in the world. His partnership with Lantinus had changed his life. Only a couple of years ago Lynch was a dirt-tracker on the European showjumping circuit, turning a buck by improving young horses and selling them on for a profit. He was a small-print name in a sport where every successful rider needed a resourceful owner with an open wallet.

That’s where Thomas Straumann comes in. He is a Swiss millionaire with a passion for horses and not long after he met Lynch he became his patron. The horses that Straumann bought for Lynch made him a player at the top shows but Straumann’s dream was to have a horse for the Olympics. So, at the end of last year, he paid €1.5m for Lantinus. The horse’s talent was well known but nobody had unlocked all of his potential and it was clear that he could be a difficult ride. Lynch conquered that.

This year Lantinus and Lynch have been the star pair on the showjumping circuit. In mid-season a sheikh offered Straumann €5.5m for the horse but Straumann didn’t need the money and this horse wasn’t about profit. It was about the Olympics. That was the dream.

To engage with a doping story, though, you must bury names and faces, their trau-ma and their back story. When the samples arrive in the lab they are identified by nothing more than a code and that is the only way to view a case such as this: without sentiment or prejudice. Lynch was quick to assert his innocence and his story is perfectly plausible. But the only measure of Lynch’s story is whether it can stand up to serious doubt. For his claims to have any substance they must be tested.

When the FEI announced that four horses had tested positive for capsaicin they didn’t specify which purpose they believed the substance was being used. The distinction is crucial, however. If it was being applied to hypersensitise the shins of the horses so that they would jump more cleanly, then that amounts to cheating and each of the riders faces a suspension of up to two years.

If they believed it was being used as a pain-relieving measure then that is much less serious and the potential suspension is a year - or much less if the doping committee were satisfied that its illegal use had no performance-enhancing motive.

The difficulty is making that distinction. At their preliminary hearing in Hong Kong on Thursday it was indicated to the Irish delegation that the results of the urine sample could not determine whether the substance had been applied to the leg of a horse or to another part of its body. Lynch insists that he applied a product called Equi-Block to the back of his horse as a regular part of its warm-up routine and this is how the substance appeared in Lantinus’s sample; the presence of capsaicin in Equi-Block is quantified at 0.025%.

The concentration of the substance found in the urine samples is no aid to making this distinction. It is applied typically as a cream and whatever amounts are absorbed into the system through the horse’s skin don’t linger for very long.

Yet the FEI clearly targeted this substance for these Games and were extremely careful not to flag their intention. Four years ago they trained their sights on certain substances but they issued warnings. In 2004 their intelligence was that riders were using human psychotic drugs, unlicensed for use in horses, to calm what are known as “hot” horses. They quietly began testing for these substances in April 2004 and sent emails to all of the national federations alerting them to their concerns. Before the Athens Games started they issued a clear warning on the doping control pages of their website. In their trawl Waterford Crystal and Cian O’Connor were caught in the nets and stripped of the gold medal.

This time there were no warnings. Nobody was tipped off with a word in the ear. When the riders arrived in Hong Kong they were offered what is termed a postarrival elective test for their horses. No obligation. Lynch decided that Lantinus should have the test. The urine sample had to be submitted within 12 hours of the horse landing in Hong Kong and the team vet, Marcus Swail, waited seven hours before Lantinus issued a sample. The samples were screened for more than 60 substances but not capsaicin.

Evidently the FEI’s reasoning was twofold. They wanted to catch horses in competition and weren’t prepared to send up a flare with the postarrival elective test. They also believed that capsaicin was primarily being used on the circuit as a hypersensitising agent and not as a pain reliever. Their best chance of catching offenders was in competition on the day when, they believed, it would be applied to the horse’s shins. Only 20 showjumping horses were tested at these Olympics and four tested positive for this substance and this substance alone. By any criteria it is an extraordinary strike rate.

This issue has dogged showjumping for a long time. Hypersensitising is a formal term for what is known in Ireland and elsewhere in the equestrian world as “rapping”.

This refers to an illegal training practice where the horse’s shins are brought into contact with a pole or a stick as he’s jumping, to make him jump higher.

However, horses in competition are regularly checked for evidence of this. The shins of sport horses are a constant focus of scrutiny for possible wrongdoing. For years skin swabs used to be taken and that gave way to thermal photography which, for some reason, was absent from these Olympics.

More commonly riders are asked to submit their horse to a “boot check” after they leave the arena. The leather or plastic boots that protect their lower legs are removed by the horse’s groom and the steward examines the shins for any abnormalities or discolouration. He will also smell the boot for any chemical odour. After both of Lantinus’s qualifying rounds in Hong Kong he was subjected to a boot check and was passed by the steward.

If, as Lynch claims, he used Equi-Block on Lantinus’s back then he has paid a heavy price for a small offence. As a pain reliever Equi-Block has a very limited range. It is an over-the-counter product readily available without prescription in tack shops - roughly speaking, an equine version of Deep Heat. But if your horse has a serious pain or a niggly injury and you need him to compete, Equi-Block is not going to make much difference. Lynch says that he used it to warm his horse’s back and that would be a common application for the product.

Equi-Block is distributed by MiracleCorp of Dayton, Ohio and on Friday The New York Times tracked down a spokesman for a comment on Lynch’s situation. He was emphatic: “There should not have been a problem with it.”

On the front of the container it clearly states that Equi-Block contains capsaicin but not in a quantity that would incur a positive dope test. Should that not have made Lynch at least ask what this substance was and wonder if he should be concerned? Products similar to Equi-Block that don’t contain capsaicin are on the market and would have suited Lynch’s purpose just as well. In fairness, it is not clear if Lynch had spotted that notice on the Equi-Block container before Swail pointed it out to him.

It is believed that a test for capsaicin has been perfected only in the past two years and it is speculated that the equine lab in Hong Kong is the only place where screening for this substance can be successfully carried out. Lynch says he has been using this product on Lantinus for as long as the horse has been in his care and as a regular winner at the major shows this season the horse is very familiar to the testers. But the testers weren’t looking for capsaicin. They seem to have been saving that test for the Olympics.

All horses need medication from time to time for various injuries and many of those treatments would excite a positive drugs test if they appeared in a horse’s system during competition. To allow for that, riders have the facility to declare these medicines before competition as well as the condition for which the horse was being treated. If it all stacked up in the drugs test, no action would be taken. On Thursday the Irish delegation asked what the outcome would have been if Lynch had declared his use of Equi-Block before the competition started and they were told he would have been disqualified. End of story.

Analysis of the B sample began yesterday and a result is expected within 48 hours. For the Olympics the FEI have put an accelerated process in place and Lynch could have his case heard in the next week or 10 days. Lynch was happy to waive testing of the B sample and bring his hearing forward but that option wasn’t available.

He accepts that a banned substance was found in his horse and he says he knows how it got there. He knows that the FEI has a policy of strict liability where the presence of any undeclared banned substance must result in a punishment for the rider.

But Lynch insists that he wasn’t cheating. The FEI’s doping control committee will make a judgment by the end of September. Somehow they must decide whether Lynch applied Equi-Block to his horse’s legs or his horse’s back. Their verdict on his motive hangs entirely on that question.

Compound with two uses

Capsaicin is the compound that makes chilli peppers feel hot on the tongue, lips and skin. It is also an ingredient in painkilling drugs for humans. When applied to a horse’s legs it causes hypersensitivity, so if the horse hits a fence or pole when jumping it will increase the pain. This encourages the horse to lift its legs higher. Capsaicin is also known as the equine Deep Heat and is used for pain relief.

Although banned by the FEI, only in the past two years has equipment become sophisticated enough to detect it. Riders and team managers were all warned that the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s laboratory, which tested the samples, had the most up-to-date and efficient facilities in the world.

What happens now The B-samples will be analysed shortly. If the result is positive, evidence and written submissions will be requested from the rider and a three-member FEI panel will be appointed. This panel should quickly decide on sanctions and hold a hearing as necessary.

fits

hellbent wrote: »

I'm talking purely about the Olympics, when I use the word 'productive', in the sense of being medal candidates. No point spending time and money on equestrian events if the result each time is a scandal and national embarrassment.

Well you could have stated that more clearly. I agree. Theres no point spending money on cheats. I hope not all equestrians are cheats.

I'm aware that horses are big business here, but surely you're not suggesting that all should be forgiven because the industry is all-important.

:rolleyes: you know very well I'm not suggesting that.

Accept the consequences and rebuild public confidence over time.

I agree. But it is going to take time. My confidence and faith in showjumping, what little there was, is shattered.

fits

The Sunday Times always seem to publish great articles on these issues, whoever the journalist is. Thats an excellent article zaraba. Telling it like it is.

k_d

agree with fits here, excellant artical and thanks for sharing.

"When the FEI announced that four horses had tested positive for capsaicin they didn’t specify which purpose they believed the substance was being used. The distinction is crucial, however. If it was being applied to hypersensitise the shins of the horses so that they would jump more cleanly, then that amounts to cheating and each of the riders faces a suspension of up to two years."

"If they believed it was being used as a pain-relieving measure then that is much less serious and the potential suspension is a year - or much less if the doping committee were satisfied that its illegal use had no performance-enhancing motive."

sorry havnt got used to this quotes thing yet!!
this is where there goin to have to make the dicision on the ban. i myself do beleave lynch and dont think that using it would have any effect on the performance of the horse, its an over the counter remedy and if the horse was injurred surely the vet would have him on something stronger or not jumping at all

gonna have to wait untill september for the results tho but im hopin all goes well for him

its been blown out of proportion abit with the goin ons with showjumping in the last olympics and that,..

anyway great artical...

finbarrk

Thanks for posting that Zaraba. I had read it in the newspaper yesterday and had recommended it to a few people
Dennis Walsh usually writes good articles.

nesf

Products similar to Equi-Block that don’t contain capsaicin are on the market and would have suited Lynch’s purpose just as well.

This is the crux of it for me. Assuming it was an innocent mistake with the product, the ball was dropped on this one. The team around the riders should have had enough sense to make sure that no one was using this product when alternatives that contain no banned substances are out there.

There were similar problems with the US Gymnastics team and gymnasts using over the counter cold medicines that contained banned substances a few years back if I recall correctly. No one really thought the athletes were trying to cheat, the levels were too low and the story of innocence was very plausible but it was indicative of serious problems in the management of the Olympic team that incidences like this could happen.

Ignorance is not an excuse in things like this and after the previous Olympics the Irish team should have been extremely cautious about what substances were being given to the horses. The whole incident just strikes me as being a product of negligence on the part of the rider and the team around him. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, at this level of competition this kind of **** up shouldn't be happening.

B-Sample is positive. No surprise really

http://breakingnews.ie/sport/mhqlojkfidey/

siobhan.murphy

do you really think he was that stupid,and actually put his horse forward for the test,knowing that there was a likelyhood of this capisian to be found,God after Cian OC I really though he wouldnt be so stupid ,or did he think he might fall through the net??
A real shame,Id say the equestrian world are pissing themselves laughing.

It was widely believed before the games that there was no test for that drug.

skink

A german vet has said it may have been present in feedstuffs

from independant.ie

On Monday, however, German veterinary surgeon Rudigr Bres, who looks after the horses of German star Ludger Beerbaum among others, issued a press release suggesting that capsaican may have been present in horse feed in Hong Kong.

The eminent vet said it was unlikely that a preparation like Equi-Block -- the product used by Lynch and confirmed on Sunday as also used by Germany's Christian Ahlmann on his horse Coster -- could get into the bloodstream.

Bres said it was more likely to have been present in the feed and he asked if this means that in future horses can only be fed "biologically produced food consisting of just oats, hay and straw?".

[php]http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/olympics-2008/irish-news/hsi-calls-meeting-over-lynch-fiasco-1463858.html[/php]

and the b sample has been found to be positive aswell, which is generally a given anyway

from breaking news

The equestrian's world governing body, the FEI, has confirmed that the B sample from Ireland’s Olympic hopeful and Denis Lynch mount Lantinus has tested positive for the banned substance capsaicin.

The result confirms the initial positive finding that forced Lynch out of the Olympics.

All four cases, including Lantinus', found to have positive A samples have also seen their B samples test positive.

The four cases are:
Denis Lynch (Ireland); Latinus
Bernardo Alves (Brazil); Chupa Chup
Christian Ahlmann (Germany); Coster
Tony Andre Hansen (Norway); Camiro

Evidence and written submissions have been requested from each rider, and a three-member panel of the FEI Tribunal has been appointed for hearings which will take place on September 5, 6 and 7 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Horse Sport Ireland tonight confirmed that they had been informed by Denis Lynch that he will participate in the hearings.

[PHP]http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/mhqlojkfidey/rss2/[/PHP]

nesf

skink wrote: »

A german vet has said it may have been present in feedstuffs

If it was present in the feedstuffs wouldn't more horses have been affected than just a small handful?

togster

skink wrote: »

A german vet has said it may have been present in feedstuffs

Irrelevant tbh. Lynch has admitted he used Equi-Block. It contains the prohibited substance. It is obvious it does. So Lynch knowingly used a substance that contained a prohibited substance.

What now though? I read a tribunal of sorts will determine if he used it to hyper-sensitise his horses legs. That surely will be very difficult to do.

MDFM

Good article in today's journal, well said in my opinion.

Show jumping's darkest hour

By Michael Slavin
Last Thursday morning, Irish hopes of an Olympic medal were shattered when Denis Lynch and Lantinus were removed from the start list for the final of the show jumping competition. The reason? Lantinus tested positive for the banned substance, capsaicin.
In our view, this is one of the most serious threats Irish show jumping has ever faced. How could this have happened? Someone has to put a hand up and admit "I got it wrong." It was no secret that Fédération Équestre International (FEI) President Princess Haya and some within her staff had capsaicin in their sights. It was no secret that China has the most sophisticated drug-testing technology in the world. Why did the people responsible for Irish participation in Olympic show jumping not ensure that Ireland had no questions to answer?
The laboratory in Hong Kong was not interested in whether someone knowingly used a banned substance on a horse. It was instructed to hunt for a specific banned substance - capsaicin - and it found it in Lantinus. For the sake of the sport's future here, for the sake of Ireland's reputation as the nation of the horse, someone must admit "I got it wrong." No one is being asked to say "I did wrong," but someone must admit they got it wrong.
Support team failure

The whole support team in Hong Kong have questions to answer. There was plenty of time to check out the full medical history of Lantinus over the previous weeks. Enough time to monitor all veterinary, nutritional and exercise information and enough people on hand to keep a strict watch on the horse's stables in Hong Kong.
Being removed from the Olympic final because of a positive drugs test on top of a litany of bad news stories surrounding Irish show jumping in the recent past is the worst possible scenario. The facts are that three of our top riders have been involved in drugs test controversies. This highlights a major problem with the checks in place for those representing Ireland internationally with regard to the use of veterinary substances. This has to be addressed.
Denis Lynch must shoulder some responsibility for this situation, but so, too, must Horse Sport Ireland (HSI). For a rider to be making decisions on veterinary products is simply not good enough at this level - that is the job of a veterinary surgeon. Surely a complete and thorough audit down to the washing detergent used on the horse's rugs should have been carried out. Certainly, those around Denis should have been aware of the contents of his grooming kit.
HSI must ensure that Ireland's riders completely avoid banned substances - an approach which differs from using products containing them which claim that the horse will not test positive for them. The riders undoubtedly need help from the relevant national bodies in this regard. What happened in Hong Kong is indefensible - those in authority must take responsibility for that, otherwise there is no hope that things will be better in the future.
Handling this crisis and, more importantly, taking positive action in light of these events will be HSI's first real test. Now is the time to start the recovery. Let's be serious, this past week has been a complete disaster and responsibility must be accepted by Denis - but he should not be made a scapegoat. Horse Sport Ireland needs take their share of the responsibility. It is incomprehensible that all of these officials were in Hong Kong and no one asked the important questions.
Not all doom and gloom

Let's not forget that people involved in equestrianism in Ireland have a lot to be proud of and to hope for. Only six short years ago we had a world champion in Dermot Lennon, 16 eventing horses at this year's Olympics were Irish-bred, two of the top 20 show jumpers in the world are Irish.
Jessica Kurten's recent win in the Grand Prix at the Dublin Horse Show and Eddie Macken's return to Irish soil gave us all heart. We also have a lot to look forward to - the Irish show jumping team has the horses to win a medal at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010 and our young riders, who did so well at the European Championships, are a match for any team.
Hickey comments damaging

It didn't take long for President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), Pat Hickey, to throw the first punch at Irish equestrianism
after the A sample from Lantinus tested positive for a banned substance. Hickey's public comments, which criticised the reporting procedures of Horse Sport Ireland when the news broke in Hong Kong, and also questioned the future of equestrian sports in the Olympics, have angered many in equestrian sport. The Irish equestrian community are furious that Hickey, who admittedly assumes no responsibility whatever for horse sport, has sought the limelight to cast blame.
For Pat Hickey to say that show jumping as an Olympic sport is "in question" is by far the most damaging way a man in his position could have dealt with the events of last week. Who does he think he's representing with these statements? Ireland is considered the birthplace of show jumping (the first competition organised by the RDS in 1868 took place in Dublin). The outcome of Hong Kong is a bitter disappointment for all involved in equestrian sport but the reaction from Hickey does nothing to extol the virtues and spirit of the Olympics.

togster

Good article in general. I disagree with the statement in relation to hickey.
Who was he representing? The Irish Olympic team. Lynch was a member of this team so of course he was right to issue a statement. Perhaps the wording he used was inflammatory but in a way Slavin is hypocritical in demanding someone take responsibility for this fiasco and suggesting Hickey was wrong in blaming "irish equestrianism".

Swomeone has to take responsibility. Hickey may be the catalyst in facilitating this. He was right imo to issue blame to irish equestrian. HSI represent irish equestrianism. They are ultimatly at fault here and so is Lynch. Why can he not be made a scapegoat? It is imo the riders repsonsibility to ensure he aqquires all the neccessary help in preparing for the olympics. He is the horses owner and therefore is responsible for everything he injects or is applied to him.

Irish equestrianism/HSI need a kick in the arse. Perhaps this is it. This is our last chance. I'll agree with Slavin in that it is all about how it is handled now. Lynch/HSI must take the blame. The procedures they used failed, they failed Irish equestrianism, the irish horse and most importantly the irish people.

The Chessplayer

Alot of excuses flying around, does anyone else just think that Lynch is a dirty rotten cheater?

togster

The Chessplayer wrote: »

Alot of excuses flying around, does anyone else just think that Lynch is a dirty rotten cheater?

Well he did cheat, he used a banned substance. I fail to see your point tbh.
And suggesting something unfounded will get you banned i suspect

MDFM

I just think Slavin hit the nail on the head with :

'For a rider to be making decisions on veterinary products is simply not good enough at this level - that is the job of a veterinary surgeon'

And
The whole support team in Hong Kong have questions to answer. There was plenty of time to check out the full medical history of Lantinus over the previous weeks. Enough time to monitor all veterinary, nutritional and exercise information and enough people on hand to keep a strict watch on the horse's stables in Hong Kong.

And finally
HSI must ensure that Ireland's riders completely avoid banned substances - an approach which differs from using products containing them which claim that the horse will not test positive for them.

it's pretty much my overall opinion aswell of the whole scenario.

Dodge

nesf wrote: »

If it was present in the feedstuffs wouldn't more horses have been affected than just a small handful?

I think I read (in one of the articles posted here) that only 20 were tested, and 4 test positive. Thats a high enough percentage. It could also indicate that the amount of capseican in Equi Blcok is under the level permitted, but the feedstuff put it over the limit.

Again, this is all conjecture, and has been pointed out. He knowingly put the banned substance on/in the horse anyway (regardless of amount)

The Chessplayer

togster wrote: »

Well he did cheat, he used a banned substance. I fail to see your point tbh.
And suggesting something unfounded will get you banned i suspect

He is a rotten cheat. I can't understand why people are saying that he didn't know this, that and the other. He should be horse-whipped on O'Connell St for embarrassing Ireland on the world stage like this.

SanNJay

when they first went to the olympics would all off there luggage not have been checked? i.e their tack boxes, medical boxes etc.

and if yes how did Lynch get past with the Equi block?

Sandra

togster

SanNJay wrote: »

when they first went to the olympics would all off there luggage not have been checked?
Sandra

No