Horses to be dope tested during N’Eliya races
For the first time in history, the Sri Lanka Anti Doping Agency (SLADA) will go beyond its boundaries and conduct doping tests on horses running at the prestigious Governor’s Cup meet at the Race Course in Nuwara Eliya on April 15.
According to sources close to SLADA, the unit will go ahead with this test on horses consequent to receiving complaints from certain members of the Sri Lanka Turf Club (SLTC), which conducts the Governor’s Cup horserace meet for the 144th year running. The confirmation comes in a letter addressed to the Chairman of SLTC from the Chairman of SLADA, Professor Arjuna de Silva, that it will be conducting doping test on horses.
“As per the convention against doping in Sport Act No.33 of 2013, Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency will be conducting doping test on Horses at the Races to be held on the 15th of April 2015. Please make note and extend your fullest co-operation,” the letter, dated April 7 of 2015, states.
The letter has been copied to four individuals — Raja Sinnathurai, Ajantha de Soysa and Rajan Sellamuttu – three of the SLTC officials appointed by its Chairman Gamini Jayaratne to investigate the matter – and Punya Edwards, one of the four persons to request SLADA to conduct tests on horses.
The SLTC received the letter from SLADA after the local anti doping unit received a letter dated March 31 under the Edwards Stud Farm and Racing Stables signed by four members of SLTC – Punya Edwards, Rienzie Edwards, Deepthika Jayakody and Nisitha Rupasinghe.
“Doping has become a practice at the Nuwara Eliya Race Course for a number of years with the only objective being winning a race for self-aggrandizement. This has resulted in the early deaths of poor animals sometimes during or after races. We have requested that dope testing be carried out several times but have met with resistance from the Chairman and other committee members who resort to doping in every race they hold,” the letter says.
“We are happy to meet the expenses for dope testing on our animals as well as on other animals in the Race Course, for the sake of animal protection, if you would be kind enough to organise such dope testing,” it added.
The SLADA upon observing the differences of its usual trend in sample collecting from athletes has sought advice from overseas experts to carry out the mission. They have even brought down specialised sample collecting kits from overseas on which the collected urine samples of horses will be sent to a laboratory in India approved by the World Anti Doping Agency or the WADA.
The Sunday Times understands that SLTC has written a letter to the SLADA on April 9 that it ‘will not hesitate to pursue its legal rights’ in the event any attempt is made to conduct tests on horses.
The SLTC states that it is not a national sports establishment in terms of Sports Law No.25 of 1973, is neither an affiliated member, club, team, association or league of any national association and the event conducted on April 15 is not an event which can be classified as a sporting activity organised, held, convened or authorised by any national association of sports.
It also elaborates that horses ‘would not fall within the definition of the person within the meaning of Section 2 (c) or within the meaning of the term of participant in Section 2 (e) of Act No.33 of 2013 and the horses would not even fall within the definition of ‘an athlete’.
“In the aforesaid circumstances we are under advice to inform you: a) that the provisions of Act No.33 of 2013 would not apply to SLTC and b) that in the aforesaid circumstances the purported doping tests on horses as envisaged by you in your letter dated 7/4/2015 has no legal authority”.
It goes on to say that SLTC would not object to any doping test provided it is done with legal author and in an appropriate manner. The source close to SLADA told the Sunday Times that it will anyway advise its officials to be present at the Race Course on April 15 with the assistance of a veterinarian and conduct tests without interrupting the event.
“The objective of the whole exercise is to eradicate doping in whole. It could be human athletes or animals but as the only unit available in Sri Lanka, the SLADA has the authority to conduct tests within the country. Nobody has to worry if there is no wrongdoing being done, sports, be it at competition level or leisure, should be sans steroids,” the source added.
Anti doping tests on horses are common in countries like England, Australia and Singapore where horse racing is a rich sport.