Spending a penny costs William Treacy dear
By Graham Green 8:00PM 24 SEP 2015
IT WILL be the most expensive penny William Treacy ever spends as the County Tipperary-based trainer was on Thursday fined £1,000 at a BHA disciplinary hearing over a failed drugs test.
The banned substance tramadol was discovered after Fethard Player's second in a handicap hurdle on Grand National day at Aintree in April - and is thought to be linked to Treacy sometimes urinating in the eight-year-old's stable.
Interviewed by BHA investigators, Treacy, 67, who trains two horses in Fethard, revealed he is on a medication for arthritic pain called Zydol, which contains tramadol. He said he takes it every morning and then visits Fethard Player to give him an apple - and, due to the effects of the drug, occasionally answers the call of nature in his box.
In the absence of any other explanation, the disciplinary panel decided the source of the tramadol was cross-contamination from Treacy's prescribed medication. They disqualified Fethard Player and fined Treacy £1,000.
The trainer said: "I've been on medication for arthritis for more than 20 years, have had three hip and two knee replacements, and have now got it in my back as well.
"We hadn't a clue how Fethard Player tested positive, but they are funny tablets, you have to go to the toilet about 20 minutes after taking them, and either that, or the traces of the Zydol on my hands, is probably what happened. At least, that is what they came up with.
"I didn't realise spending a penny could cost so much."
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