No more steroids for horses

Johannesburg - The use of anabolic steroids in horseracing will be banned from December, the National Horseracing Authority said in a statement on Monday.

The decision falls in line with the recent position taken by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

The new rule (73.4) would be introduced on December 1, with the ban taking effect from June 1, 2014. This would allow six months for a horse being treated with anabolic steroids to be free of the substance.

Out of competition testing for anabolic steroids would take place randomly from June 2014 onwards.