Horse in Bathurst Show event returns positive test to prohibited drug

The Bathurst Agricultural, Horticultural and Pastoral (AH&P) Association announced on Facebook that one of the 10 samples taken during the show had detected a prohibited substance.

There were 500 horses that competed in the 2024 show.

And while disappointing, Bathurst AH&P Association secretary Brett Kenworthy said they are looking at the situation as a positive, because it reminds people the society takes a fair competition in all exhibits seriously.

Which is why the Bathurst association is the only one, that Mr Kenworthy knows of, in NSW outside of Sydney and Canberra [which is in the ACT] to conduct random drug tests in the equine events.

"The whole point is to say if you turn up to any event you could be tested," Mr Kenworthy said.

"It is really about a process of saying it's not acceptable."

The last time a positive urine test for a prohibited substance was detected at the Bathurst Show was in 2019, with Mr Kenworthy telling the Advocate they get about one every four or so years.

And while this doesn't mean there haven't been horses compete with a prohibited substance in their system and just not get swabbed, the concept of random testing acts as a deterrent with the aim of giving competitors confidence that everyone's on an even playing field.

It's to ensure as best as possible that no substances have been used to enhance the performance of a horse, whether that be through masking pain, sedation to calm the horse down, or anything else.

"We generally do 10 to 12 tests a year and they're randomly selected," Mr Kenworthy said.

"So we don't target just the winners, we preordain how many per day over the three days of the main competition."

After the first level of screening, which is the samples taken at the show being tested at the racing laboratory in Sydney, the Bathurst AH&P Association has provided all the information to the Agricultural Societies Council (ASC) of NSW to commence an inquiry.

"We don't investigate it ourselves," Mr Kenworthy said.

Mr Kenworthy said the competitor will be given natural justice and a chance to comment on the alleged use of a prohibited substance.

And as every test taken has an 'A' and 'B' sample, the person can request the second sample be tested.

"We can't determine whether they did it or someone else did it, all we can say is the horse had traces of the substance," Mr Kenworthy said.

The inquiry will conclude with the ASC making a decision regarding the penalty based on all of the information provided, the situation, what the drug is and whether it's a first time offence.

Mr Kenworthy said worst case scenario, the competitor won't just get banned from the Bathurst Show for a period of time, but they could get banned throughout the state from all agriculture shows.