3 days ago
€20k greyhound race prize paid twice after positive substance test sparks confusion
Confusion surrounds the final destination of a €20,000 first prize for a greyhound race, which was paid out twice after it emerged the original winner had tested positive for a banned substance.
Carrigmore Dante emerged victorious in the Time Greyhound Nutrition A4 Derby Final on July 6 last year, receiving the top prize of €20,000.
The dog was subsequently confirmed last November, four months later, as having tested positive for a banned substance in an earlier round of the derby last June.
The Irish Examiner understands the winner's prize-money of €20,000 has now been paid twice, with the runner-up in the derby, Crokers Hugo, receiving the first prize last month, while the status of the original payment to Carrigmore Dante remains a mystery.
On the official results site of regulatory body Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI), Carrigmore Dante is noted as the winner of the July 6 race, but with no attendant prize money.
Prize money in greyhound racing is partly funded by funds which GRI receives each year from the State via the Horse and Greyhound Fund.
Some €19.82m was allocated to the body in last October's budget for 2025.
Efforts to contact the owners of Carrigmore Dante were not successful.
Greyhound Racing Ireland said the 'matter of the prize money issued to the greyhound Carrigmore Dante is subject to legal correspondence and [GRI] is not commenting on the matter'.
Last month, details of a hearing regarding Carrigmore Dante's positive test for fluxinin — an anti-inflammatory product banned for racing greyhounds — were published, which revealed the dog had been fed category 3 meat 'as recommended' by GRI, which comes with 'a low risk of contamination but not zero risk'.
The racing control committee concluded the 'positive sample returned from the greyhound Carrigmore Dante was not deliberate or intentional' based on repeat testing of the same dog 'within a short period', before imposing a fine of €100 on the owners.
'The Greyhound Racing Control Committee, having considered all the evidence in this matter, was satisfied that the case presented by [GRI] was proven,' notes from that hearing state.
William Rigney, founder of Time Nutrition, expressed surprise the result of last year's derby final was the subject of questioning, saying 'we haven't heard anything about that'.
'It's the remit of GRI, they are responsible for regulation. We haven't heard anything, we wouldn't be getting involved in that sort of thing,' he said, while confirming the prize money for the race is sourced from both the sponsor and GRI.
Asked why it took four months to confirm the presence of a banned substance in Carrigmore Dante, GRI's spokesperson said in order to confirm the positive, a more definitive test, known as liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, needed to be performed on the sample, with the positive finally confirmed on November 7 last year.
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