On Thursday, trainer Gerard Butler reflected on the circumstances that led to his five-year
suspension handed out by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) on Wednesday.
After learning of the
verdict, resulting from his administering of anabolic steroids through Rexogin to
horses in his care, the 47-year-old Newmarket-based conditioner issued a statement through his
solicitor:
“All I can do is try to pick up the pieces. I will do so with a
painfully renewed sense that the principles I neglected, in one disastrous lapse, will be those that
serve me best in trying to rebuild my life.
“While this has been a devastating and humiliating
experience for me, I am above all aware of its impact on others: not just my family, staff and owners
but also the sport I have always loved. I have no intention of hiding from my responsibility
for an error of judgment that has undone many years of honest endeavor. I wish only to offer
one or two observations, then, with no intention of diluting the contrition I feel.
“My
sense that I had betrayed the standards I have always sought to maintain can be judged from the fact
that I myself brought a number of breaches to the attention of the BHA. I hope it has also
become evident how widespread were the misunderstandings, among the training and veterinary
communities in Newmarket, over the use of Sungate.
“With that in mind, I must emphasize
that no harm resulted to any of the horses involved — and, above all, that I would never have
knowingly risked any such harm. It was wrong for me to cut corners, but I did so principally
through naivety.
“I am grateful for the many messages I have received that recognize this, and also
how distressed I am to have let myself and others down. I have made a big mistake, and am
paying a big price. The consequences for my wife and three sons will be a daily
reproach, harder to bear than any judgments passed by others.”
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