Escaneno Tests Positive to Fluphenazine at 2021 Westfalian Stallion Licensing

Breeding

Westfalian

For the fourth year in a row, a Westfalian licensed colts sees his breeding permit revoked because it tested positive to medication or a banned substance. This time it's Escaneno (by Escamillo x Veneno x Ravallo) who tested positive to the antipsychotic fluphenazine.

Escaneno was one of six (!!) reserve champions at the 2021 Westfalian Stallion Licensing on 22 November 2021. Bred and owned by stallion keeper Tobias Schult, the bay was not offered for sale in the auction.

Escaneno, Fluphenazine Medication Mix Up

Today the Westfalian breed society announced that Tobias Schult's Escaneno tested positive to fluphenazine.

"Like every year, all 55 stallions that received a positive approval at the Westphalian Horse Center were routinely subjected to a medication control. The above-mentioned stallion had a positive result for the doping-relevant substance fluphenazine. This finding was confirmed by the analysis of the B sample," the Westfalian verband stated.

The Westfalian society further stated, "The result of the diagnosis and the further procedure were communicated to the presenter and owner Tobias Schult, who was immediately willing to cooperate in order to clarify the origin of the active ingredient. The Westfälisches Pferdestammbuch now has a written declaration from the treating veterinarian. This states that during the treatment there must have been a mix-up of the horse to be treated."

Escaneno today (30 january 2022) in the stallion show
at Klosterhof Medingen (Photo © Petra Kerschbaum)

On the FEI Clean Sport website it is written that fluphenazine is a banned substance. It is an "antipsychotic used for the treatment of mental or mood disorders, as well as schizophrenia." Oxford Academy writes that it is "injected into horses to control high-strung behavior by providing long-term sedation."

Tobias Schult and Klosterhof Medingen collaborated to stand Escaneno at stud in 2022. The stallion's licensing status, however, has been revoked. "The stallion can be presented again for licensing after 3 months," the Westfalian verband stated.

On 18 January 2022 Escaneno was approved for Hanoverian breeding.

Four Positive Dressage Stallions in Four Years

For the fourth consecutive year, the Westfalian verband has to deal with positive stallions at their licensing.

In 2019 the licensing champion Dynamic Dream (by Dream Boy x Sir Donnerhall) tested positive to Flunixin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) used for the alleviation of inflammation and pain associated with musculo-skeletal disorders. He was presented by Jan-Dirk and Heinrich Giesselmann at the time and they stated that the horse was treated for a skin problem. At the licensing Dynamic Dream achieved a hammer price of 1.9 million euro in the auction although rumours were rife that the horse had already sold privately before the auction. He sold to Andreas Helgstrand, who decided to keep the stallion despite the positive doping test and had him re-presented for licensing. The bay colt passed on the second try and has been a popular breeding stallion since, although an injury has put the horse's sport career on hold.

The rising 3-year old Escaneno under saddle at Klosterhof
Medingen (Photo © Petra Kerschbaum)

In 2020 no less than two colts tested positive at the Westfalian licensing, both for the stimulant caffeine. The reserve champion Darling's Dream (by Diamond Deluxe x Lissaro van de Helle x Labrador) was positive. He is bred and was presented by Wilhelm Rüscher-Konermann and sold at auction to Helgstrand for 600,000 euro. Ruscher-Konermann refused to take back the colt and blamed the positive test on feed contamination.

The second colt testing positive to caffeine was the Warendorf state stud owned stallion Ferrari Superfast (by For Final x Lissaro van de Helle x Davignon), but he also had traces of theophylline in his blood, a prohibited substance and a Bronchodilator, used for the treatment of asthma and various respiratory diseases.

The Westfalian breed society retrieved that also this positive test was caused by a feed contamination. Both Darling's Dream and Ferrari Superfast had been fed with the same food. Bernhard Kreiling GmbH, the manufacturer of Marstall feed company, identified apple pomace, an ingredient in the feed, to be the source of contamination.

In 2018 Eugene Reesink's Vaderland (by Vitalis x Krack C) tested positive to sedative acepromazine, a tranquilizer commonly used in veterinary medicine, at the Westfalian licensing. The stallion sold at auction for 370,000 euro to a mystery buyer from Belgium, but it turned out to be a non-sale. Vaderland's licensed status was revoked but three months later he got re-approved. He has been standing at stud at Matthieu Beckmann's yard.