Al Zarooni Planning Return To Training

Mahmood Al Zarooni, who in April 2013 was banned eight years by the British Horseracing Authority after 11 horses in his care tested positive for banned anabolic steroids, is planning a return to training in the UAE with his ban having recently come to an end, Racing Post reports. Al Zarooni told that publication he will begin training from Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club in the coming weeks and expects to have 20 horses in his care.

Al Zarooni was a private trainer for Godolphin based in Newmarket at the time of his rule breach, and had won 12 Group 1s for Sheikh Mohammed in the three years he was employed by him. Al Zarooni told Racing Post he takes responsibility for the steroids scandal that engulfed him, having admitted in 2013 that he himself brought the drugs into the country, though he claims he thought he could administer them to horses that weren't racing and that he wasn't trying to enhance performance.

“I have to rebuild my reputation,” he said. “What I did was a big mistake, I learned a lot of lessons and now I have to prove myself again and show this mistake will not happen again.”

“I want to make my file white,” he added. “Many people when they hear the name Al Zarooni will think of the black mark [next to his name] because of doping horses and say, 'He's a cheater'. I want to prove I was not a cheater, I never even thought about that. It was a mistake, but my horses weren't doped for racing, it was to help them heal. Most of these horses have been through hard work and they have small problems. Some have suspensory or tendon problems and it helps them heal. That was the idea. My horses were never caught in any race because it was never anything I did when they were racing.”