RQL Refutes Baseless Drug Claims
- Thursday, 01 September 2011 02:35
Racing Queensland Limited (RQL) on Wednesday responded to comments attributed to former racing licensee Michael Jackson in an article published in the Sunday Mail on August 28, 2011.
In that article comments were attributed to Mr Jackson to the effect that “racing is rife with drugs” and “if they went through 100 per cent of the jockeys every Monday morning, they’d get close to 30 per cent”.
RQL director of integrity operations Mr Jamie Orchard said today that nothing could be further from the truth.
“The men and women who ride in races are professional athletes engaging in an inherently dangerous sport. As a group they are conscious of the dangers illicit drugs would pose both to themselves and to their fellow riders and therefore tend to stay right away from them,” said Mr Orchard.
“Nonetheless, RQL has in place a stringent drug testing program which sees riders tested somewhere in the state every week. RQL performs unannounced testing at race meetings and trackwork sessions and the results have never been anywhere near those levels suggested by the former licensee quoted in the article.
“Interestingly, jockeys themselves support the rigorous drug testing program, as inconvenient as it might be for them when they are preparing to race, and this is a clear indication that jockeys as a group share the views of RQL that illicit drugs have no place amongst the professional athletes in our sport.”
Queensland Jockeys Association (QJA) president Glen Prentice endorsed RQL’s drug stance.
“The QJA and all Queensland jockeys fully support Racing Queensland’s stringent drug testing program and acknowledge that the baseless comments by a former licensee are unfounded due to the level of testing jockeys are subjected to in Queensland,” said Mr Prentice.
“Racing Queensland and the Jockeys Association work hard making all riders aware of their obligations in relation to banned substances.”
