‘84 Breeders’ Cup Turf Winner’s Sample to Be Tested Again

The chairman of the California Horse Racing Board said Saturday that his group would determine Monday where to send a frozen urine sample obtained from Lashkari after the horse won the inaugural $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf race on Nov. 10, 1984 at Hollywood Park.

Lashkari, owned by the Aga Khan, tested positive for etorphine, commonly known as “elephant juice,” after finishing fourth in the second Breeders’ Cup Turf race Nov. 2 at Aqueduct. The four-year-old English-bred colt was disqualified from his share of the purse, $140,000, by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.

“In view of the situation in New York, it seems prudent to test Lashkari’s sample from last year,” said California board chairman Benjamin Felton, a Sherman Oaks attorney.

Urine samples from winners and other high finishers in major races routinely are frozen and retained for a year or more, Felton said.

The samples from the 1984 Breeders’ Cup races were tested once by Analytical Technology of San Diego, Felton said. But the Truesdale Laboratory of Tustin is the California board’s primary laboratory, and Felton said he would recommend, if feasible, having the frozen 1984 Lashkari sample split so a re-test could be conducted by each laboratory independently.

Etorphine, often used as a tranquilizer for elephants and other large animals, is believed to act as a stimulant when applied in small doses. Felton said its alleged use in race horses has only recently come to light in other states.

“The only way to find it is to test for the specific drug itself,” Felton said. “It’s a half-hour test and wouldn’t have been done last year because no one knew about the drug at that time.”

Hollywood Park’s chief executive officer, Marje Everett, said Saturday that she would be “delighted” to host the 1987 Breeders’ Cup but discounted a report that the races would be offered to the Inglewood track.

The Daily Racing Form reported that the track selection committee of the Breeders’ Cup had recommended keeping the races in California in 1987, despite having earlier awarded that year’s program to a Kentucky track, probably Louisville’s Churchill Downs. The Form said the proposal would be discussed at a meeting of the Breeders’ Cup directors Dec. 9 at Lexington, Ky.

“We have not been told of any such meeting,” Everett said. “We would love the chance to host the event again.”

There has been speculation in racing circles that the Breeders’ Cup would become an annual California affair, rotating between the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita and the Hollywood Park fall meeting. Oak Tree will formally announce at a luncheon Tuesday that it will play host to Breeders’ Cup III on Nov. 1, 1986.

For this year’s Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct, television ratings were lower around the country than for last year’s races at Hollywood Park. This is believed to be a major reason for keeping the event in California permanently, with a first post time of about 11 a.m. PST. This would enable the four-hour televised program to air between 2 and 6 p.m. in the East.