The leading Irish trainer Gordon Elliott has been fined £1,000 by the British Horseracing Board’s independent disciplinary panel and his hurdler Zanahiyr has been disqualified from last year’s Champion Hurdle, after Elliott admitted ultimate responsibility for a “mystery” positive test for lidocaine, a fast-acting anaesthetic, returned by the gelding after his third-place finish in the Grade One race last March.
Wednesday’s hearing into the case was told that an extensive BHA investigation included an unannounced inspection of Elliott’s yard by a team from the Irish Horseracing Integrity Board, when Elliott was attending the Grand National meeting at Aintree in April 2022.
