In a game of chess dominated by the Kings, Queen and Knights, played out at the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) ,  champion trainer Pesi Shroff and veteran trainer M K Jadhav are reduced to pawns. And this is sad considering the fact that the big players in the big political game before the elections  are simply demanding their pound of flesh.  It is true, that no individual, be it a legend is not bigger than the game  and needs to play the sport according to the rules but  in Pesi Shroff’s and Jadhav’s cases,  most old hats in the game and the knowledgeable including the top veterinary experts are of the view that the trainers have not played foul  but have yet been penalised  on the vicarious liability count . 

A couple of  racing pundits made it clear that the zero- tolerance  drug policy  is going to hurt the professionals hard. The RWITC trainers are sitting ducks.  World over threshold levels are established and the labs are told to conduct the drug tests and declare the results after taking into consideration the  threshold levels.

“Most foreign drug testing labs are very advanced  and  with the Indian authorities not prescribing threshold levels, the results declared will mostly be determined positive and that is going to malign the image of the sport in the country and on the international scene, “ said  top vet Hasneyn Mirza adding that  in his two decade service in the equine vet field he has not come across O-Desmethylvenlafaxine, the drug  detected  in the wards of Pesi Shroff and M K Jadhav.

To the credit of RWITC, it must be mentioned that they constituted a panel of highly qualified equine experts consisting of  Dr S M Karthikeyan, Dr B Sridhar and Prof.Utpal Tatu  seeking their opinion in this matter,  however, what surprises most  is the fact that  none of the views, opinions  and suggestions of the experts were accepted  and the trainers were sacrificed at the altar of convenience.

Karthikeyan, in his observation has stated that considering the fact that the same drug has come positive in a number of cases from the yards  of the two trainers , it simply could not be intentional as no professional trainer would  take the chance of using the drug often if it is effective.  The leading vet also pointed out that there is not much evidence that this particular drug would  enhance the performance of a horse or  help bleeders and that  this drug is not used by any equine vet or institutions.  The top vet declared that in this case there is a strong possibility of contamination .

Prof Utpal Tatu revealed that  in his research on effects of the concerned drug in horses he didn’t find any material that supports the use of this drug for enhancement of horse performance in races.  The professor  disclosed that  an overall view  taking into consideration the extremely low quantifications of all eight horses, it may have occurred due to some form of  environmental contamination.l.

Steven A Barker of the Louisiana State University school of veterinary medicine pointed out that to his knowledge there are no published studies of the effects of Venlafaxine/ODMV in horses, no dosing information nor any study of the drug’s pharmacokinetics.

To the contention made that it can be misused in horse racing or it would not have been in the list of drugs banned by the RCI, Barker one of the first creators of the Drug Classification list adopted by ARCI,  pointed out drugs can appear in samples for a number of reasons and its mere presence is not sufficient evidence of abuse.

Well, if all the expert opinions on record clearly endorse the theory of contamination, why is RWITC  shying away from giving the benefit of doubt  to the pros in this case is hard to digest as all the vets  have declared that there is no established use of  Venlafaxine in equines.

Most past administrators of the club made no secret of their opinion that little is done now for the promotion of the sport. It is now a power game. Individuals from the groups are busy promoting themselves rather than look into facilitating the owners, trainers, jockeys and more importantly the racing buffs who are the chief patrons of the game.

It is also reliably learnt that trainer Pesi Shroff has recently submitted documents which may be considered as fresh evidence to support his theory of contamination.

Come September 2, The Board Of Appeal, it is learnt will finally adjudicate on Shroff and Jadhav’s appeals against the suspensions slapped on them.  Will the trainers finally get justice or will the suspension stay is the hot topic of debate in the racing circles. The bookies, it is the opinion of racing buffs  will do more business than the tote counters at RWITC if they open odds on the decision of the BOA.   

Well taking into account  all the opinions and suggestions of vets and the knowledgeable it will do a world of good  to RWITC and Indian racing if they decide to give the two trainers the benefit of the doubt and that’s simply because  the entire equine vet field including a couple of renowned  foreign vets  are of the view that Venlafaxine is a drug not used on  equines and that there is no evidence that this drug will enhance the performance of horses or will help bleeders. And that it could well be a contamination case.  

It is strange but true that the stipes and stewards in this case chose not to go by the opinions of their own experts and it is now upto the BOA members to decide on the merits of the case. Will they play fair? Your guess is as good as mine.