01/06/2016

(1 June 2016)

Two facilities in the Siena area have been inspected by the authorities, and one vet and three jockeys are being investigated on suspicion of doping. A warrant for house searches was issued to the Corpo Forestale by the Deputy State Prosecutor, Dr Aldo Natalini.

The Corpo Forestale dello Stato today issued the following statement: “Searches were carried out for drugs, and illegal substances. At the same time, blood samples were taken from all the horses present in the facilities under investigation in order to ascertain their identities and to test for doping.To date 61 racehorses have been tested, both anglo arabs and thoroughbreds, including any not listed in the Palio Register. Suspect substances were discovered, and subsequently confiscated and sent to labs designated by the Siena Prosecutor, for analysis.”

The investigation began in July of last year, starting with Luigi Bruschelli (aka Trecciolino), the current top Siena palio jockey, and Osvaldo Costa, owner of some of the horses. Both were accused of misrepresentation, and mistreatment of animals: it emerged that they removed the ID microchips from three racehorses so that these horses could be passed off as warmblood anglo-arabs, and therefore elegible for entry into the Siena palio Register (see article here).

During the first phase of the investigation, three horses were put under provisional confiscation. The Forestale has now discovered that over the past weeks, one of these horses has died during a training session in a different location from the one specified by the judicial order: this changes the charges to falsified justification for slaughter, disobedience of a public order, mistreatment and slaughter of animals, trafficking and use of illegal substances.