Brass Hat, shown during the week leading up to the Dubai World Cup.
A three-member appeals panel of the Emirates Racing Authority has upheld the disqualification of Brass Hat from his second-place finish in this year's Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) and the $5,400 fine imposed on trainer Buff Bradley.As a result of the Tuesday decision, which followed a two-hour teleconference hearing Monday, owner Fred Bradley will forfeit the $1.2 million earned by the Prized gelding when he finished second to Electrocutionist in the race at Nad al Sheba racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.Stewards later disqualified Brass Hat, and moved Wilko to second, after a post-race test detected a trace of the drug methyl prednisolone acetate.While the outcome of the positive test was not in dispute, the Bradleys contended that the administration of the therapeutic medication 28 days prior to the World Cup was well within the guidelines distributed by the ERA to trainers with horses running in the world's richest race. Those guidelines, listed on the sheet of "Dubai Equine Hospital Medication Withdrawals," show a 23-day withdrawal time for methyl prednisolone acetate, indicating the time frame in which it can be given a horse and not be detected in the horse's system in a post-race test.William Johnson, the attorney representing the Bradleys, said his clients were disappointed but not surprised by the decision to uphold the disqualification.Johnson said he hopes the ERA will either change the withdrawal times on the sheet distributed to trainers or discontinue use of the document. "I would hope they would not continue to use what I think is deception on their part," Johnson said.
