A record 20-year ban in equestrian has been imposed on a rider from the United Arab Emirates for horse abuse at a long-distance race.
The horse, Castlebar Contraband, was euthanized after a “catastrophic injury” sustained after being injected with a banned sedative for a 56-mile endurance race in France.
The International Equestrian Federation said the ban until June 2040 imposed on Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Faisal al Qasimi was the strongest in its history. He was previously banned for two years in 2012 when a different horse tested positive for testosterone.
The sedative, xylazine, can be used to lower a horse’s heart rate and for nerve blocking to allow it to run through pain.
The sheikh was ordered to pay $34,000 in fines and legal costs. He can appeal against his sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
TRACK AND FIELD
JUMPER BANNED: Former European high jump champion Alexander Shustov has been banned for four years for doping in the latest case from previous years to hit the Russian team, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Tuesday.
CAS said in an emailed statement he was banned for the use or attempted use of a banned substance or method, without giving any further details.
Shustov won the gold medal at the European championships in 2010.
The Russian Athletics Federation said on Monday that Shustov’s ban was dated from June 5, and his results were disqualified for a period from 2013 to 2017. That means he keeps his European title but is retroactively disqualified from seventh place at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
The 35-year-old Shustov has not competed since 2016, according to World Athletics records.
Shustov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti he planned to file an appeal.
According to the Russian federation’s records, he was trained by Evgeny Zagorulko, who is facing charges related to the alleged filing of forged medical documents in relation to another of his athletes, Danil Lysenko.
HORSE RACING
SANTA ANITA DEATH: A horse broke down during a workout at Santa Anita and was euthanized, making it the 14th fatality at the track since late December.
Lightsaber, a 2-year-old filly who had yet to race, died Sunday in what the California Horse Racing Board called a training-related death. She sustained a left hind leg fracture and attending veterinarians found the injury was unrecoverable, which led to Lightsaber being euthanized.
The California-bred filly was purchased by trainer Eric Kruljac for $55,000 in 2019.
Santa Anita resumed live racing on May 15, although it is closed to the public and media. The Arcadia track closed on March 27 because of the coronavirus pandemic, although training was allowed to continue.
BOXING
NON-TITLE BOUT: Shakur Stevenson stopped Felix Caraballo with a body-punch knockdown in the sixth round in Las Vegas in the first major boxing event held in North America since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stevenson (14-0, 8 KOs), the WBO featherweight champion, dominated his non-title bout against the Puerto Rican veteran, capping the sport’s return to the world’s fight capital.
After a three-month break in major boxing competition, Top Rank staged five fights for ESPN in a fan-free room in the MGM Grand casino complex’s conference center. Although every bout was a mismatch of varying degrees, the favorites still provided entertaining performances for the sport’s starved audience.
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