Gordon Elliott faces BHA disciplinary action after Cheltenham runner tested positive for banned drug

Gordon Elliott is facing disciplinary action from the British Horseracing Authority after his Cheltenham runner Zanahiyr failed a drug test last March, just months after the trainer returned to the sport after being suspended for sit on a dead horse.

Zanahiyr tested positive for the banned substance 3-hydroxylidocaine after a race on March 15 last year.

The substance is a metabolite of lidocaine, which is a commonly used local anesthetic agent in horses.

The test came after the horse had finished third in the Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival, a race won for the second time by Honeysuckle.

The BHA confirmed in a statement that an independent disciplinary panel will meet on Wednesday to determine whether Elliott has breached the racing rules.

Zanahiyr, pictured in 2020, failed the test after finishing third in the Champion Hurdle last year.

Coach Gordon Elliott faces an independent disciplinary hearing on Wednesday

Under the BHA’s Penalties for Violating Rule (K) 2.2, which deals with race day prohibited substances, penalties can range from fines to disqualification, if convicted of an offence.

A ban of between one and 10 years could be imposed if the panel determines that there is a high level of culpability for the positive test.

A maximum fine of £5,000 can be imposed should the panel decide that there is a low level of guilt.

The panel will also determine if Zanahiyr is disqualified from last year’s race.

Third place in the Champion Hurdle had prize money of £47,745.

Zanahiyr’s positive test came just six months after Elliott’s coaching license was reinstated.

Elliott, one of the most successful trainers in show jumping history, was handed a one-year ban by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in March 2021.

The ban followed the publication of a photo of Elliot, taken in 2019, of him sitting on a horse that had died galloping from his stable in County Meath.

Elliott served a six-month suspension in 2021 after being photographed sitting on a dead horse in 2019

Elliott apologized for a “crazy moment” with the coach last year and vowed to move on.

Elliot returned to the sport in September 2021, the last six months of his suspension having been suspended.

Speaking to Sportsmail ahead of the Cheltenham Festival last year, Elliot said he was aiming to move on after “a crazy moment”.

Elliott said: ‘I want to move forward now, not back, but it was my fault, my own stupidity.

‘It was a moment of madness. I haven’t tried to hide from it, but now we’re back and it’s good to train winners.

‘I could understand the reaction of the public. I knew immediately when I saw the photograph that it was not good. I am a human being and I made a mistake.

‘There is not a day that does not come to my head. It’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.