Racing acts early with its £2m scheme to test horses for gene doping | Sport

The term “world-leading” has become a favourite of certain politicians in recent years and much devalued as a result, but it seems fair to apply it to the introduction of testing for gene doping in British racing before the start of the new Flat season on turf.

Gene doping was initially identified as a possible threat to racing’s integrity as long ago as 2019, and while there is, as yet, no evidence that the technique has been used to improve performance, either in training or on the track, Brant Dunshea, the British Horseracing Authority’s chief executive, said on Friday that the necessary technology and expertise is increasingly widespread.

“You can Google it or go to YouTube and see people showing you how to buy the vectors [to carry out genetic transfers] online, and do it yourself from home,” Dunshea said.

“The test we are rolling out screens for transgenes, which is effectively a form of vector, which is used to transport a gene from outside a body, into a body. We’re looking for the vehicle that’s used to carry genetic material into cells.

“The sorts of things that you could hypothesise that people might do are to introduce genetic material that might increase muscle mass, or increase the capacity to produce red blood cells. So it would have the same effects as other traditional drugs [such as anabolic steroids], but it’s done through a genetic modification.”

While National Hunt and Flat horses will be screened as part of the new programme, which has been developed at a cost of about £2m over the past six years, cooperation with other jurisdictions including Australia, France, Japan and Hong Kong, will mean that the test may be of particular relevance on the high-stakes global Flat racing circuit.

Runners from Britain and overseas will be subject to potential screening ahead of Royal Ascot in June, and the test has also been designed to track further developments in gene manipulation technology.

“There’s a suite of common vectors that are used in science to do this, so what we’ve done is develop a method that will enable us to screen for all the common vectors, but then, as new ones come on stream, to add them,” Dunshea says. “There will also be other types of tests that come on stream as the technology develops.”

Two million pounds might seem like a lot of money to spend to combat a threat that, as far as anyone knows, remains theoretical at present.

High-profile doping cases both here and abroad, however, including the Mahmood al-Zarooni steroid scandal in 2013 and the extraordinary Servis/Navarro case in the United States in 2020, have shown the deep and lasting damage that can be done to racing’s image by those who are determined to win at all costs. On that basis, it is surely money well spent.

Native Warrior can battle to victory

The Qatar-based Wathnan Racing operation, a rapidly emerging power in international Flat racing, has two live contenders for today’s Lincoln Handicap and with James Doyle, their No 1 jockey, having opted to ride Midnight Gun for Hamad al-Jehani, Native Warrior (3.35) could be overpriced to give Karl Burke his first success in the traditional opener to the new Flat season on turf.

Betting markets often overreact when a retained jockey is forced to choose between two mounts. Seamie Heffernan’s impressive list of Group One wins on horses that Aidan O’Brien’s No 1 at the time opted to reject is a reminder of how finely balanced these decisions can be.

Burke, whose increasingly powerful stable was top five in the trainers’ championship for the first time last year, is also double-handed in today’s race. And Thunder Run, fourth home in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot on Champions Day, is the narrow market leader in the overnight betting.

Again, though, there is little or nothing to choose between Thunder Run and Native Warrior on the balance of their form to date, and Native Warrior’s close second off today’s mark in a well-run race at Glorious Goodwood last summer is arguably the best individual piece of form on offer.

He was previously first home on his side in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot, and even finished about three lengths behind Notable Speech, the subsequent 2,000 Guineas winner, on his seasonal debut. There is plenty of pace on his side of the draw to give him a tow into the race and an early price of about 10-1 simply looks too big.

Doncaster 1.15: The betting, as ever, is likely to be the strongest guide to the first juvenile event of the season, but Kameko made a good start to his stallion career with his first crop of juveniles in 2024 and Kamakameleon has a couple of two-year-old winners in his pedigree.

Doncaster 1.50: David Menuisier’s Promethean was reported to have boiled over in the preliminaries before a disappointing run on his final start at three, but he has been gelded ahead of his four-year-old debut and could well be a horse to follow this year.

Kempton 2.05: Kamboo has scarcely been sighted in his four starts on turf but his all-weather form is much better and it looks significant that William Buick has been booked for this return to an artificial surface.

Doncaster 2.25: Having won the Group Two Champagne Stakes at this track as a two-year-old, Iberian’s three-year-old season was a washout. But he got his head back in front after a wind op at Southwell in December and Charlie Hills’s runner is an eye-catcher back at six furlongs for a stable that excels with sprinters.

Kempton 2.40: The progressive Mount Atlas beat three next-time winners on his handicap debut at Ascot last July and also put up a solid performance to finish third on this surface earlier the same month. Anything close to the form of his final start at Newmarket could well be enough to get his four-year-old season off to a flyer.

Doncaster 3.00: As the only confirmed frontrunner in the field, there is every chance that Point Lynas will get an easy time of it on the lead and he arrives in decent form after running second in a Group Two race at Doha last month.

Kempton 3.15: Several of the runners in this Listed event have form in Group One company and while the long-absent Shuwari, the runner-up in the 2023 Fillies’ Mile, could prove the best of them in the long run, Soprano sets a good standard on her close third in the Matron Stakes in September.