LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Equestrian Federation has banned the crown prince of Dubai from riding in endurance races for 10 months after his horse tested positive for a steroid.

Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum was also ordered to pay $4,900 in fine and costs, according to a ruling published on the FEI’s Web site.
He is the 26-year-old son of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, who is currently serving a 6-month ban after one of his horses twice failed post-race doping tests. In Sheik Mohammed’s case, his trainer admitted administering a steroid and a hypertension medication and was banned from the sport for 12 months.
Sheik Mohammed’s wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, is president of the governing body but took no part in the two disciplinary processes.
Sheik Hamdan rode Eo Fawati in a 74.5-mile endurance race at Bahrain in January where the horse tested positive for metabolites of the anabolic steroid stanozolol.
In a written statement to the FEI’s three-man tribunal, the sheik said an investigation at his family’s Emirates Endurance stables did not establish how the drug entered Eo Fawati’s system.
“It is likely that there is intense competition amongst grooms, and this might lead to errors of judgment by them,” Sheik Hamdan stated.
The tribunal panel said in its ruling that a rider had ultimate responsibility for his staff’s actions and treatment of his horses.
It expected the Sheik “to enforce appropriate stable management that demonstrates respect for the applicable rules and horse welfare.”
The sheik was provisionally suspended from riding in April and the four months already served will count against his 10-month ban. He can appeal the judgment.
Princess Haya has used her presidency of the FEI to campaign against doping in equestrian sport and has acknowledged that a problem exists in desert endurance races, which are not an Olympic discipline.