David Vandyke and Alligator Blood after the Australian Guineas.
Image: Racing Photos/George Salpigtidis
Alligator Blood swab sensation
By Carl Di Iorio / Racing.com
One of Australia’s highest profile horses Alligator Blood has returned a positive swab from the race which provided his connections with their biggest payday.
The David Vandyke-trained Alligator Blood has shown an irregularity to Altrenogest following his $2 million Magic Millions Guineas (1400m) win at the Gold Coast on January 11.
Altrenogest, which is also referred to as Regu-Mate, is a prohibited substance in male horses under the Australian Rules of Racing. The substance is a hormone treatment used to control the cycles of fillies and mares but can be used to calm an unruly colt or stallion.
The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC) informed Vandyke that the sample had been sent for confirmatory testing at another laboratory.
Alligator Blood, a three-year-old gelding by All Too Hard, won the Magic Millions Guineas after being delayed en route to the racecourse due to a motor accident on the freeway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Racing Queensland stewards delayed the race by 40 minutes to allow Alligator Blood and the Michael Moroney-trained Star Surprise sufficient time to arrive on course and compete.
The race was further delayed when Leviathan burst through the barriers as the field was being loaded, dislodging jockey Tommy Berry in the process.
When the race finally was held, Alligator Blood justified his quote as odds-on favourite and defeated the Greg Hickman-trained Eleven Eleven by two lengths with Godolphin’s Magic Millions Classic winner Exhilarates finishing third at her first attempt over 1400 metres.
Alligator Blood later campaigned in Victoria, winning the Group 3 C.S. Hayes Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington before finishing tenth in the $5 million All-Star Mile (1600m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
Alligator Blood has raced 12 times for 10 wins and a second in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) behind Super Seth. He has been spelled following his unplaced All-Star Mile run.
Vandyke responded to the news of the irregularity on Wednesday evening.
“I was informed today (Wednesday) that Alligator Blood has returned an irregularity to Altrenogest after his win on 11 January at the Gold Coast,” Vandyke told Racenet.
“There is a B-sample under review. Altrenogest is a drug that has never been used to my knowledge on Alligator Blood or any male horse in our stable.
“It is used in our stable under the brand name Ovumate and is given to some female horses under our care with accurate records kept surrounding administration.
“These records have been given to QRIC. We are in the process of reviewing our security and stable management. There will be no further comment as we await the result of the B-sample.”
Alligator Blood’s owner Allan Endresz offered on Twitter his own reasons why the horse may have returned an irregularity.
It’s not the first time a high-profile male horse has returned an irregularity to Altrenogest.
Trainer Leon Corstens was suspended for six months in February 2010 after Starspangledbanner returned a pre-race positive swab before his first up victory on the opening day of his three-year-old season.
Starspangledbanner was disqualified of his three-year-old handicap win before winning a further four Group 1 races over the next 12 months – Caulfield Guineas, Oakleigh Plate and Golden Jubilee Stakes and July Cup.
Owner believes Alligator Blood was nobbled
By Ryan Reynolds / Racing.com
Owner Allan Endresz believes Alligator Blood might have been nobbled after the star three-year-old recorded a positive swab.
It was announced on Wednesday that Alligator Blood, who is trained on the Sunshine Coast by David Vandyke, had shown an irregularity to Altrenogest following his $2 million Magic Millions Guineas (1400m) win at the Gold Coast on January 11.
Altrenogest, which is also referred to as Regu-Mate, is a prohibited substance in male horses under the Australian Rules of Racing.
The substance is a hormone treatment used to control the cycles of fillies and mares but can be used to calm an unruly colt or stallion.
Speaking to Racing.com, Endresz said he was fearful for Alligator Blood’s safety and was of the belief someone had got to his gelding.
“For me, it’s one of only two possible outcomes. It’s either contamination, or, and I’m swinging this way, that he’s been nobbled, he’s been got at,” Endresz said.
“If you look at strict reading of rule 240, subsection one of the Queensland racing rules, it’s what they call a strict liability. If you present your horse with a prohibited substance, then it’s automatic disqualification.
“When you think about Alligator Blood, on the 11th of January that horse went through hell and back in terms of the heat, the float for four hours. If you think Ovu-Mate was going to help that horse … then you must have rocks in your head.
“So, when I look at it, what we have is … if it is contamination then that’s acceptable in terms of an outcome. But if it’s nobbling then someone or persons are very smart because they would realise that it’s a catch-all disqualification.
“To give you an example, it could be sprayed into his feed bin, it could have been put on the wire mesh where the horse licks it because it has a sugary quality to it and you’re gone.
“So, whoever or whatever person in a nobbling sense, clearly, it’s a beautiful outcome because you don’t need to go to the depths of looking for the steroids or other issues the horse can be disqualified for.”
Endresz said he has accelerated measures to keep Alligator Blood safe.
Endresz, who has had his own legal battles in the past, said there might have been ‘some disgruntled followers of me for 20 years’ looking for ‘payback’, or someone with ‘tall poppy syndrome’ targeting Vandyke.
“We are in a world that says money and betting is huge (and that could be) a motivation for people to look at the horse,” he said.
Endresz described the positive swab as ‘a real big shock’.
“When we got the news, David was distraught. At that stage it was sample A and the reality of life is that sample B will be the same,” he said.
“We agreed that we have nothing to hide (and we wanted to) bring this (news) out as quick as we can. We were the ones that approached Racing Queensland to do that.”
Source: This article first appeared on Racing.com and appears here with their kind permission
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