A POTENTIAL superstar horse who failed a drugs test is still set to run at Cheltenham Festival – after being stripped of his recent victory.
Sixmilebridge sprung a shock when thrashing 8-15 fav Potters Charm in the Grade 2 Ais Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham’s Trials Day in January.
Sent off 9-1 under Kielan Woods, the Megson Family-owned six-year-old stormed up the hill to land the £43,000 first-place prize.
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But he is set to be disqualified from the record books after positive A and B samples were returned in a drugs test.
Trainer Fergal O’Brien said on the Nick Luck Daily podcast the plan is still to run Sixmilebridge in next Wednesday’s Turners Novices’ Hurdle.
The blockbuster Grade 1 is likely to feature unbeaten Willie Mullins sensation Final Demand – provided he doesn’t do a last-minute switch.
And JP McManus’ recent big-money purchase The New Lion, who is trained by Dan Skelton.
O’Brien said he had ordered pre-race testing on all his intended runners after the shock finding on Sixmilebridge.
The Irish, British-based trainer said he believed the doping positive was due to a joint injection 22 days before the race.
BHA rules say a horse cannot receive such an injection less than 14 days before running.
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 and do.
“He’s not excreted the medication as well as he should’ve done, or we thought he would’ve done.
“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.”
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