In an unprecedented incident, the Japan Racing Association (JRA) excluded 156 horses from racing over the weekend due to banned drugs being found in their feed. The JRA boasts the largest annual turnover in the industry worldwide with at JPY2.7 trillion a year.
Theobromine, a form of caffeine, was detected in the horse feed. This drug has a stimulant effect and is designated as one of 104 types of forbidden drugs in feed additives.
The JRA is now investigating why this drug was mixed into the feed, while feed manufacturers are suspending sales of the product and starting a recall according to policies set out for feed additive manufacturers.
The product had already been distributed to stables before the test results had come back and there are some cases where the sales came from an affiliate of the JRA, JRA Facilities, which has reportedly experienced issues with its management system.
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