Cheltenham racecourse has been fined £5,000 after it was unable to provide CCTV footage of a horse that later failed a dope test at the Cheltenham Festival. The horse, Final Demand, trained by Willie Mullins, finished second in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase last March and tested positive for an anaesthetic administered for an injury to his jaw.
Disqualification and fine for Mullins
An independent judiciary panel disqualified the horse and fined Mullins £1,100. The panel was chaired by Sarah Crowther KC, who said she was satisfied that the issue did not involve any skulduggery, despite the missing footage.
Cheltenham had hired a third party to manage its CCTV surveillance, but when the racecourse requested the footage of Final Demand's stay in the Charles Turner yard between March 8 and 11, it was told that the hard drive containing it had been misplaced.
Questions over CCTV security
The episode raises questions about why the racecourse needed to request the footage at all, rather than receiving all CCTV recordings as a matter of routine. The article notes that if a firm provides a security system for a home, digital footage is typically available for the owner to view.
The idea that, in 2026, footage of racecourse stables would be unavailable is described as absurd. The piece concludes that if racecourses cannot provide failsafe security at meetings like the Cheltenham Festival, the sport is in trouble.
Trainers' title race goes to the wire
Separately, the battle for the trainers' title is set to go down to the wire, with Aidan O'Brien leading Andrew Balding by just over £80,000. O'Brien is set to have his final runners in Britain when he seeks a record-extending 13th win in Doncaster's William Hill Futurity on Saturday.
After that, Balding will need to claw back the leeway with runners on the all-weather in November and December. The article suggests the championship should be run during the turf season, with the baubles handed out at Town Moor next weekend, calling it "infinitely better than what we've got."
Champions Day success after initial doubts
The article also reflects on Champions Day at Ascot, which was first run in 2011. Fifteen years on, with the Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes as the headline acts of five Group 1 races, the project has been given an emphatic thumbs up, with even Longchamp on Arc day having something to think about.
