The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa confirms a reported Prohibited Substance finding.
The presence of Ketoprofen (Class 4) was disclosed upon analysis of a specimen taken from ELUSIVE WINTER after the running of Race 6 at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Racecourse on 1 February 2025.
The Training partnership responsible, Mr H Crawford and Mrs M Rix elected to sign an Admission of Guilt for a contravention of Rule 73.2.4 and a fine for an amount of R23 000 was imposed.
Furthermore, ELUSIVE WINTER is accordingly disqualified from the race in terms of Rule 72.3.2.
When assessing penalty, careful consideration was given to the class of substance, the Training Partnership’s clean penalty record of prior prohibited substance contraventions during the last five-year period, the concentration of the prohibited substance in the specimen and the status of the race.
The Training partnership exercised their rights in terms of the Rules and requested that the reference specimen be sent to GIE Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques (LCH) in France.
The NHA received written confirmation from LCH that the specimen taken from ELUSIVE WINTER was analysed and the presence of the prohibited substance, Ketoprofen was found to be present, unequivocally confirming the initial findings of The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa’s Laboratory.
- Media release by the NHA on Friday, 23 May 2025.
