Yahoo News Trainer Butler considers his response to ban
Gerard Butler's response to the news he has been disqualified from racing for five years is expected to be revealed on Thursday.
The Newmarket trainer attended a disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority last month, and they have announced Butler admitted to all seven charges against him relating to samples of an anabolic steroid found in horses in his care.
His solicitor, Richard Brooks of Withy King, said: "We will be releasing a statement tomorrow."
The BHA accused Butler of an "appalling" dereliction of his duties and nine of his horses produced positive samples, five cases of which were identified as the joint treatment Sungate, which contains the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol.
However, considered even more serious was Butler's admission of administering another substance, Rexogin, to four horses himself.
Rexogin is designed for use in humans, often for bodybuilding, and contains 10 times as much stanozolol as Sungate.
Adam Brickell, director of integrity, legal and risk for the BHA, said: "BHA's position, which was upheld by the disciplinary panel, was that the most serious charges related to Gerard Butler's gross failure to look after the best interests of four horses in his care, which amounted to conduct that was seriously prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport.
"The gravity of the breaches of the rules of racing escalated when, in the course of cross-examination during the disciplinary panel hearing, Gerard Butler finally provided evidence as to where he had purchased the drug in question from, and admitted that the product he had administered himself to four horses was not the equine veterinary product Sungate, but instead an unlicensed stanozolol-based product called Rexogin, manufactured for use in humans.
"Furthermore the panel accepted that Butler had administered this product by intra-articular injection using a method restricted by law to qualified veterinary surgeons.
"The panel also pointed to the fact that Butler took no veterinary advice before carrying out these procedures, did not have the horses properly assessed prior to their treatment, made no recording in his medication records of having injected the horses and that he subsequently allowed the horses to be treated by veterinary surgeons without informing them of the prior administrations.
"Furthermore they noted that it is not appropriate for a trainer to say he is able to undertake an invasive veterinary procedure on the basis that he had seen veterinary surgeons performing the procedure, that he created unnecessary risks for the horses in obtaining the drug from an unlicensed source and that his behaviour in administering the injections was consistent with the underhand and covert manner in which he purchased the drug.
"Taking this all into account the panel summarised that the actions of Butler represented 'an appalling breach of his duty to look after the interests of the horses in his care and amounted to conduct that was seriously prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of horseracing in Great Britain'."
