British racehorse trainer Gerard Butler has received a 5-year suspension for having nine horses in his barn test positive for anabolic steroid use, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced Dec. 4.

Butler admitted to seven of the charges, which included five horses treated with the veterinary product Sungate, on veterinary advice and by a veterinary surgeon. Four horses were identified later to have received the product Rexogin. Both products contain the anabolic steroid stanozolol, which is a prohibited substance, the BHA Disciplinary Panel said.

Commenting on this matter, Adam Brickell, BHA director of integrity, legal, and risk, said, "BHA's position, which was upheld by the disciplinary panel, was that the most serious charges related to Gerard Butler's gross failure to look after the best interests of four horses in his care, which amounted to conduct that was seriously prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport.

"The gravity of the breaches of the rules of racing escalated when, in the course of cross-examination during the disciplinary panel hearing, Gerard Butler finally provided evidence as to where he had purchased the drug in question from, and admitted that the product he had administered himself to four horses was not the equine veterinary product Sungate, but instead an unlicensed stanozolol-based product called Rexogin, manufactured for use in humans. Furthermore the panel accepted that Butler had administered this product by intra-articular injection using a method restricted by law to qualified veterinary surgeons