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Trainer Ival Brownlee has been disqualified from racing for 18 months. Photo: 123rf
A winning racehorse that tested positive for methamphetamine was likely contaminated with the drug by its trainer.
Now, Ival Brownlee won't be able to race or train horses for the next 16.5 months, after also testing positive for the drug, despite denying taking it.
According to a summary of facts released by the Racing Integrity Board (RIB), Brownlee entered the seven-year-old mare Emily Bay into a Waikato Harness Club race in Cambridge at the end of October last year.
The horse won its race and was swabbed and urine tested, and a month later, when the tests were returned, it was found to have methamphetamine in its system.
In a social media post on 13 February Harness Racing New Zealand congratulated Ival Brownlee on his 100th race win as a trainer. He achieved the milestone with Emily Bay, the same horse that tested positive for meth in October 2025. Photo: Screengrab
Racing investigators then visited Brownlee's training site in Pōkeno and both he and his father, who owns the horse, consented to be drug tested as well.
Forensic swabs were also taken of the truck used to transport the horse and the stables, which were clear of traces of the Class A drug.
While a urine sample taken from Brownlee was also clear, a hair follicle sample returned a positive result for methamphetamine, amphetamine, and THC Acid.
Brownlee claimed he hadn't used meth since 2012.
While none of Brownlee's horses have ever failed a drug test before now, he was disqualified from the racing industry in 2012 for a positive meth test, and again in 2015 after racing investigators found cannabis in his system.
The RIB then pressed charges against Brownlee, seeking his disqualification from the industry and noting that methamphetamine use struck at the heart of the industry's "social licence".
"The mere presence of the substance has the potential to undermine public confidence in racing outcomes," the board said.
"The need for general deterrence is particularly acute in methamphetamine cases due to the known risks of contamination and the seriousness of the drug involved."
The board said that exposure to methamphetamine posed a significant animal welfare issue with animals. It also noted that the breach occurred on a race day and that the horse won its race.
After initially denying taking the substance, Brownlee admitted the charge before the board.
However, he made the point that he didn't intentionally administer the drug to the horse, rather it got into the animal's system by exposure to Brownlee's own use.
Brownlee also noted that while he had two prior disqualifications for drug use, these were both more than a decade prior, and he had no breaches in regard to his animals.
Brownlee said that an 18-month disqualification was too heavy, and that he had already lost the $4400 winning stake after the horse was disqualified, and would suffer reputational damage in the racing industry.
An adjudicative committee of the board met at the start of February 2026 and found that the presence of methamphetamine in Brownlee's hair sample suggested long-term use as opposed to a one-off.
"Methamphetamine is classified as a Class A Drug and is recognised as a powerful central nervous system stimulant.
"Its ingestion by a racehorse (thoroughbred or standardbred) constitutes a significant animal welfare concern... the respondent should have known the risks and consequences of methamphetamine use and contamination, making the breach more serious.
"He ought to have understood the potential for contamination and its repercussions."
Brownlee is far from the first trainer to have contaminated his animals with the Class A substance.
In 2022, both Darren Smith and his horse Tazimoto tested positive for methamphetamine following a race win in Ruakākā. The board noted at the time that methamphetamine detections were becoming more common in racing.
The same year, Whanganui jockey Rochelle Lockett was slapped with a three-year ban from racing after both she and horse Be Flexi were found with the drug in their system, also following a race win.
SPCA's senior scientific officer, Dr Alison Vaughan, told NZME that most of what scientists know about how drugs affect animals comes from reports and theory rather than controlled studies.
"But the risks are very well recognised," she said.
"Even indirect exposure is a welfare concern."
Vaughan said that an animal, such as a horse, could experience high blood pressure and heart rate, as well as tremors and a lack of co-ordination in low doses.
In severe cases, there could be a risk of seizures.
Vaughan said that it was her understanding that animals are more susceptible to drug exposure than humans, and that horses have a larger cardiovascular output, meaning they metabolise substances differently.
"I think the point is that any exposure is a potential welfare concern and should be treated very seriously."
Brownlee's disqualification will start on 19 Febuary and will end on 24 June 2027.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
