The British Horseracing Authority will decide on Monday "whether disciplinary action should be taken against three trainers, including Almanzor’s handler, Jean-Claude Rouget, after controlled substances were found in bags being taken into the racecourse stables at Ascot on Saturday by their employees," according to Mark Souster of the LONDON TIMES. The substances were "discovered in routine searches by the authority’s integrity staff before Champions Day," the £4.26M ($5.2M) showpiece finale to Britain’s Flat racing season. The "other trainers involved" are Hugo Palmer, who sent out Galileo Gold in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, and Architecture in the Fillies & Mares Stakes, and Francois Rohaut whose gelding, Signs of Blessing, finished fourth in the Champions Sprint. The trainers "were interviewed and the cases then referred to the BHA." Urine samples "were taken for testing" from Almanzor, Galileo Gold, Architecture and Signs of Blessing. The results "are due later this week." In Palmer and Rouhat’s cases, the stewards held an enquiry following reports that an "unallowable substance" and also an "allowable substance without permission" had been brought in. Rouget’s employee was found to have taken in "an allowable substance without permission" (LONDON TIMES, 10/17).
