DOPING INQUIRY REACHES CONCLUSION Britain`s biggest horse doping inquiry came to a close today as the trainers of Avanti Express and Lively Knight faced fines of Stg#200 from the Jockey Club Disciplinary Committee.Charlie Egerton and Josh Gifford were found not guilty of doping the horses, which tested positive for the tranquiliser ACP, but both were fined under the club`s rule which makes trainers ultimately responsible for any positive drug tests.The Disciplinary Committee also decided to disqualify the horses. The Egerton-trained Avanti Express got into trouble at Exeter in March 1997. The horse was so unsettled that jockey Jamie Osborne decided to pull up, leaving rival Give and Take to claim the race.'I was going nowhere, he felt lifeless,' Osborne said. Gifford`s Lively Knight was targeted at Plumpton three weeks later, finishing a poor second despite being tipped as a 1-7 favourite.ACP, a fast-acting sedative, is banned by the Jockey Club and can stay in the animal`s nervous system for hours.Five men were tried in connection with the case last autumn at London`s Southwark Crown Court and all were found not guilty. The inquiry lasted three and-a-half years and cost three million pounds. Gifford and Egerton were not present at the Jockey Club hearing.
