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Brass Hat's owner loses his appeal over DQ in
Dubai
Owner Fred Bradley's appeal of Brass Hat's disqualification from
second place and $1.2 million in purse earnings in the $6 million
Dubai World Cup was rejected yesterday by a three-member panel of
the Emirates Racing Authority.
The 5-year-old gelding was disqualified after his post-race
testing came back positive for a trace level of methylprednisolone.
That substance is a corticosteroid that Bradley and his son, trainer
Buff Bradley, say was used 28 days earlier. Dubai has a
zero-tolerance policy, but the Bradleys say they relied on a
document provided by World Cup representative Bill Greely that
listed the withdrawal guideline as 23 days before a race.
In addition, the appeals
panel upheld a $5,400 fine assessed Buff Bradley.
"It's very crushing," Fred Bradley said. "We were right so much.
It's all over now. We asked if there was any court to appeal to over
there, and they said there is not. … I feel I got screwed more than
plywood."
Bradley said the appeals panel said Greely, the former Keeneland
president who worked with American horsemen shipping to Dubai's big
races, was not hired by the Emirates Racing Authority and that
"anything he did was unofficial, so it didn't count."
However, Bradley said Greely was the only person he dealt with,
including nominating the horse and paying a $60,000 entry fee.
Bradley estimated he's out $200,000 in costs associated with
running the horse in Dubai and appeals expenses -- not counting the
$1.2 million. Asked if he regretted appealing, he said Monday,
"Heck, no. I want the world to know what they're doing over there. …
Everybody knew Bill Greely worked for them."
Asked who he worked for, Greely said, "I suppose I work for the
Dubai World Cup."
He said the medication withdrawal document was drawn up in 2001
and was updated in 2002 at the request of the U.S. horsemen.
"There's nothing official about the withdrawal times," he said.
"I think we've all found out through the years that horses throw off
different medications slower than others."
Of the Bradleys, he said, "I just feel so sorry for them. It's
just such a shame, such a minuscule amount."
Buff Bradley said compounding the DQ is that racing in Dubai
meant missing a couple of big-money races in this country and that
the horse required time to bounce back after the long trip.
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