Unfortunately, Mateo obviously maintained the drug in his system a lot longer than is normal. On their advice, we entered on Thursday and waited for the Saturday test. This is the first time that I have had a horse come up with a positive test, and to have one whilst representing the US in a world event is very painful, especially as it came about due to some innaccurate information in the retention of substances in the horses' anatomy. It is also very hard for the syndicate who own Mateo, who have supported his plan to race in Hong Kong as opposed to the US and who are obviously very disappointed by the whole episode. Under normal circumstances, the medication would have been expected to be out of the horses' systems before race day.
Any sensational inferences are off the mark.