by Thomas Hedlund

Police raided several horse trainers and veterinarians in Italy, Spain and France on Tuesday morning (March 22) according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

Twenty-three people were arrested when the doping raid was done and among the trainers, names such as Junior Guelpa (trainer and driver of Bahia Quesnot) and Yannick-Alain Briand were mentioned. Twenty-one of 23 people were arrested in France and the raid occurred due to suspicion of dealing with doping class substances and 80 police men attended in the raid. The well-known training camp Grosbois, outside of Paris, got a visit from the French police early on Tuesday morning and the entire operation seems to be large-scaled.

What the outcome will be from this extensive raid is hard to know right now, but it’s clear that police authorities throughout Europe are starting to direct efforts at equestrian practitioners.

One in, one out

Adrian Kolgjini-trained Tae Kwon Deo (Muscle Hill) made his first start after 11 months absence from racing on Tuesday (March 22) night, but the comeback ended in a probable career-ending injury. Tae Kwon Deo, who won the Sprintermästaren as a 4-year-old and participated in the Elitloppet as a 5-year-old in 2020, finished second to Night Brodde and trainer Adrian Kolgjini announced that this was the last start for Tae Kwon Deo, due to problem with a hind leg.

On the same day, French-bred Earl Simon (Prodigious), who won Elitloppet elimination in 2020 and has been out of racing since the Elitloppet final same day, made his second start of the year. Earl Simon traveled north, to Belgium and Mons where the Jarmo Niskanen trained trotter won in a mile rate of 1:58.2 over 1.4 miles. Earl Simon damaged a tendon in conjunction with the Elitloppet adventure two years ago.