Tomas Malmqvist’s own words after the license revocation: “Appeals • Suspected of breaking anti-drug rules” – Top ranked news article

Tomas Malmqvist’s own words after the license revocation: “Appeals • Suspected of breaking anti-drug rules

The license of one of Sweden’s biggest trotting trainers, Tomas Malmqvist, has been revoked.

He is suspected of violating the anti-drug regulations.

Now he gives his opinion on what happened.

– Totally unreal that my consent can be revoked before a decision is reached. I have to have time to protect myself, says Malmqvist.

55 years old Thomas Malmqvist in recent years it has established itself as one of the most successful trotting trainers in Sweden.

Last year, the stable, which is based in France and Sweden, brought in almost 33 million.

On Tuesday, there were critical strokes his horse Mack Love from Thursday’s super race at Åbytravet. This is when the Swedish Trotter Association started an investigation and they later said it was about a situation with veterinary treatment within the waiting period.

The license was revoked after a crackdown

On Wednesday, ST temporarily revoked permission for Tomas, who can no longer start horses, including four others who would have started V75 from the home track Jägersro.

The reason is the result of an ongoing investigation into suspected violations of the anti-drug regulations.

– It is an important part of the work against doping and competing on equal terms. This is a matter we are prioritizing and should be able to report soon to the Swedish Trotting Sports Responsibility and Disciplinary Board (STAD). Tomas can apply, said Mattias Falkbåge, research director at the association, during Wednesday.

“There have been a lot of questions”

Suspicions arose following an unannounced search of the trainer’s stable on April 15, writing the association.

Now Tomas gives his picture and his own version of how he got knowledge in the last few days.

– There have been many questions, text messages and calls. Everything came as a surprise and right now I’m not in the game. Actually, I can’t say more than I was at competitions in France and one of the horses that was supposed to compete in Sweden was not feeling well. The stable called the vet who said he was not well and needed to be quarantined, I was not told about it at the time, Tomas tells Trav365.

Why wasn’t the horse beaten before?

– I didn’t have time, and I didn’t get the information first. The vet made the right decision, it’s a matter of horse welfare. Then ST’s vet was called and he also put the horse on medication. But I wasn’t there and I still don’t know every time.

“He didn’t feel well”

The Swedish Travsport Association’s head of research tells Trav365 about what happened during the crash.

– When we got there for the job and when we had this control, we brought an independent area vet there to look at that horse. He assessed the horse as having a normal pulse, no fever and nothing strange with the breathing, explained Mattias Falkbåge.

Tomas Malmqvist does not agree with the version that the association expresses in its statements regarding veterinarians on site.

– I think it is strange that ST refuses a vet and the vet they used has not been there. It was obvious that the horse was not feeling well and why else would he be sent to treatment if he was now completely healthy, continuing with the suspended trainer.

Several of your other horses got sick at Jägersro. How is the situation with them?

– Other horses got sick and were quarantined. There was something that made them not feel good. I hope they get better soon, I know they are on medication. Everyone got a high fever, nothing on Monday but it came later. One of the horses has had a high fever, as far as I know.

What can you say to those who think you have tried to do something illegal on purpose?

– The vet did what was right for the horse. there is nothing intentional about this at all. For me, it’s about animal welfare, you can’t go against that and I believe ST doesn’t consider it. It’s an event, it’s this sweeping thing, I can’t do anything about it now, I haven’t been told.

The union claims that you had contact with them earlier in the day and that you had the opportunity to contact them then?

– I talked to ST before, but it was about completely different things and that was before this happened. It has nothing to do with each other. That is a completely different matter. This is much later in the day. I talked to them at lunch, then it was full of work.

“He feels no need to fight”

According to Mattias Falkbåge, an unauthorized preparation was found, which ST does not want to show yet because it is part of the investigation, but the head of the investigation claims that some parts of the preparation found in the stable did not pass.

What can you say about the fact that an unauthorized preparation was found in your stable?

– Yes, that’s right and it was an old preparation, from 2021 or 2022. It has a prescription and I don’t know why it was there yet, explained Malmqvist.

Your license has been temporarily suspended. What do you think about it and the future?

– At the moment it feels completely unreal, that my consent can be revoked before a decision is reached. I have to protect myself while there are so many practical problems. I have to reason with myself if this is worth continuing in the future. Right now I don’t know much because I’m in shock.

– I love my work and the horses until the next day. It feels pointless to fight against ST, they are friends with decision makers, but of course I have submitted an appeal.

check Tomas Malmqvist’s application to STAD is related to the removal of a temporary licence. He does not have a French license and therefore cannot start horses, either in Sweden or in France.

FACTORY

The V75 horses that would have started:

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