Sixmilebridge appears set to be disqualified from his Cheltenham Festival Trials day victory in January after trainer Fergal O'Brien revealed he had tested positive for a banned raceday substance.
The six-year-old landed the Grade Two Classic Novices’ Hurdle on his last visit to Prestbury Park, beating Potters Charm by eight and a half lengths under Kielan Woods.
He has since produced a positive test, something his trainer attributes to a joint injection that had not metabolised as expected and was still present in his system when he ran.
Speaking on Tuesday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast he said: “We’ve had a positive A sample and a positive B sample. Other than that, the BHA is still doing ongoing investigations,We know that he had a joint injection three weeks before Cheltenham Trials day and we’re fairly certain that’s where it’s come from.
“It’s disappointing for the owners and I apologise to the owners, it’s disappointing to the jockey, Kielan Woods, and everyone at home is pretty devastated about it. We have to put it right now and that’s what we’re going to try to do. He’s not excreted (the medication) as well as he should’ve done, or we thought he would’ve done.”
O’Brien stated the horse is still eligible to run at the Festival, where he is entered for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle and is a leading British-trained contender.
He said: “He can legally run next week. It was a perfectly legal injection that we used on the horses and we’ve chosen to do elective testing on all of our Cheltenham runners. We’ll take a urine test at home and they’ll be tested in Newmarket, so we’re trying to cover every base so that it doesn’t happen again.”
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.