Gordon Elliott will appear before an independent disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) tomorrow after one of his horses was found to have the presence of a prohibited substance in its system at last year’s Cheltenham Festival.
The panel will consider whether or not Elliott is in breach of racing rules after a post-race sample taken from Zanahiyr following the Champion Hurdle on March 15 was shown to contain the prohibited substance 3-hydroxylidocaine.
Zanahiyr, ridden by Jack Kennedy, finished third behind Honeysuckle in the hurling showpiece at the Cotswolds but now faces disqualification after testing positive for a substance commonly used as a local anaesthetic agent with horses.
The Willie Mullins-trained Saint Roi will be upgraded to third should Zanahiyr, owned by Noel and Valerie Moran’s Bective Stud, be disqualified.
Elliott missed the 2021 Cheltenham Festival when a picture emerged online of him sitting on a dead horse with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) hitting the Cullentra handler with a six-month ban after being found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.
