1924

Doping horses

The opinion has been gaining ground amongst the general public in Ireland in recent years that even the best class of racing is no longer clean; that undesirable elements have entered into it with the sole object of getting rich quickly, and that things are done that, in the interests of Irish sport, ought to be stopped without delay.

The old racing man will tell you that this is no new tale, that where stakes have been played for, strange things have always happened. Nevertheless, if the general public in Ireland once gets it into its heads that the racing officials are unable to stop it, decent racing in Ireland is doomed.

The sooner, therefore, the sporting papers and the officials concerned take the matter up with courage and vigour, the better.

The racing correspondent of the Tribune stated before Galway races that Maureen Bawn had been doped this year. why was not this outrage exposed in the sporting papers long before?

This year a well-known medical doctor from the Midlands, who is himself an experienced racing man and has owned several successful horses, has assured us that Dr. Barney was deliberately doped before starting for the Hurdle.