On Their High Horse: Cane Toad Linked With Positive Drug Test
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday November 28, 2000
The skin of a cane toad's back has been linked with a positive swab from a horse prepared by top NSW trainer Darren Hancock.
Hancock, who returns today from Canada where he has been inspecting stables in preparation for his move there in the new year, had his pacer Decoy record a positive swab to the hallucinatory drug bufotenine after it won at Harold Park on September22.
Harness Racing NSW chief steward Roger Nebauer said yesterday that an inquiry into the findings, which have been confirmed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club's racing laboratory, would be conducted on December21.
``I understand Darren Hancock is returning to the country this week and the investigation into how the horse Decoy was found to have bufotenine in its system will continue from there," Nebauer said.
``There has been some suggestion in regards to the substance coming from cane toads.
``I believe humans have been known to rip the skin off the back of cane toads and mix it into a liquid form in a way to gain themselves a hallucinatory drug. But I've never heard of it occurring in horses before.
``And when was the last time you ever saw a cane toad anywhere in NSW?"
Dr John Vine, head of Victoria's Racing Analytical Services, described bufotenine as an unusual substance.
``It's a material that occurs in cane toads," he said.
``It is the poison on their backs. It has some hallucinogenic properties."
The finding of bufotenine in Decoy's system was the first time the substance had been detected in a horse, as far as Nebauer could recall.
Encyclopaedia Britannica describes bufotenine as ``a constituent of toad poison, the poisonous, milky secretion of glands found in the skin on the back of the animal".
In modern medicine, bufotenine has been used only experimentally, to stimulate psychotic disease states for the purpose of study.
``This is basically an unknown drug as far as horses go," Nebauer said.
``I have discussed the matter with an analyst but we won't know anything further until the inquiry is conducted in Mr Hancock's presence."
Meanwhile, Dennis Wilson is considering taking action against the NSW Harness Racing Club over the photo-finish result of the Miracle Mile at Harold Park last Friday night.
After seeing the official photo-finish print, Wilson could not comprehend how a dead heat was not declared, despite a ``clear margin" for HolmesDG being evident in the print.
``The photo has been blown up and I just want to be sure, for my own mind, that there can be no tampering with it before the result is declared," Wilson said.
Nebauer said Wilson was welcome to raise his concerns with stewards.
``If he's not happy he is entitled to lodge an objection within seven days of the race being run," Nebauer said. ``He's more than welcome to do that if he has any evidence to substantiate his claim, but it would appear there is none there.
``The judges who declared the result, in which there was a clear margin, are paid officials, and I fully support their decision to declare HolmesDG the winner."
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald