Ex-Godolphin trainer drops doping ban appeal

Former Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has withdrawn his appeal against an eight-year ban for doping offences, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) disclosed on Wednesday. The 37-year-old Emirati was found to have given banned anabolic steroids to 15 horses at his stables at British racing headquarters in Newmarket, eastern England, at a BHA hearing in April. He was charged with rule breaches regarding prohibited substances, duty to keep medication records, and conduct prejudicial to racing, all of which he admitted. Al Zarooni announced earlier this month that he intended to contest the amplitude of his punishment, but the BHA said on Wednesday that it had been informed by his solicitors that he would be dropping his appeal. "BHA has received notice from the solicitors of Mahmood Al Zarooni that he has withdrawn his appeal regarding his eight-year disqualification," read a statement on the BHA Twitter account. Al Zarooni apologised for his actions at the hearing last month, when the BHA found him guilty of a "widespread systematic misuse of illegal substances". It was the most serious doping scandal in the recent history of British racing and led Godolphin principal Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to declare himself "appalled and angered" by Al Zarooni's actions.