Cobalt is a naturally occurring trace element in horses, but rarely above 10mcg. Veterinary opinion is that it would be extremely unusual for a thoroughbred to naturally produce a level above 50mcg and only "one in a million" could get to 100mcg.
New Zealand's Integrity Unit has swabs analysed in Wellington, which are then sent to Perth for further investigation. The unit has advised it has sent two further Wexford stable samples to Perth, from Suffire, after her win at Tauranga on February 5, and from Derby third placegetter Sound Proposition on February 28.
The Moody, O'Brien, Kavanagh and Hope positives are still under review, but New South Wales trainer Darren Smith was disqualified for 15 years after being found guilty on 42 charges related to horses returning illegal cobalt levels.
Smith admitted to buying a "bootleg" cobalt supplement from a warned-off harness trainer. Cobalt is a blood booster similar to EPO, but unlike EPO it is a heavy metal poison with a serious toxicity element.
After even moderate use it is known to cause significant damage to horses.
Veterinarians in Australia are concerned about horse welfare. A recent report declared: "There is an actual case study from a brewery in Canada in the mid-1960s where cobalt was added to the beer which very quickly led to more than 50 Quebec beer drinkers developing heart disease and 20 of those beer drinkers died.
"When the cobalt additive was stopped, so did the deaths and the brewery was closed down soon after."
The group maintains chronic or long-term poisoning by cobalt, which is usually irreversible, is just as important as the acute toxicity. The heavy metal accumulates in the body over time and can affect the brain, heart, liver and kidneys.
They point to an article last month that reported a huge medical class action lawsuit in Australia involving cobalt. The report said thousands of patients who had had metal-on-metal hip replacements were claiming that the implants were leaching cobalt into local tissue and, as a result, were poisoning them.
The firms that made the implants were the subject of class actions in Australia and the United States.
The vets were at pains to point out that horses do not need cobalt and that there has never been any report of cobalt deficiency in horses.
Cobalt is needed to produce vitamin B12, but a horse on a balanced diet gets enough dietary B12. However, if one wanted to supplement the horse, it would be appropriate to use vitamin B12 directly, not cobalt, they said.
"The human sports medicine community is constantly warning athletes of the dangers of cobalt abuse; this means that a human athlete using cobalt has made a conscious decision to ignore these warnings in the pursuit of performance enhancement. Horses don't have that luxury."
Cobalt consternation
• Quintastics, trained by Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, returns a positive test to cobalt after winning a race at Matamata.
• Two more runners from the stable, including NZ Derby third placegetter Sound Proposition, are under investigation.
• Several leading Australian horsemen are facing inquiries after stable runners returned positive tests.
