Top greyhound tested positive for cocaine three times

A top Irish greyhound has tested positive for cocaine three times.

A top Irish greyhound has tested positive for cocaine. Picture: Nadine Rupp/Bongarts/Getty Images

Clonbrien Hero triumphed in July’s Irish Laurels final at Cork, one of the most prestigious races in the greyhound circuit. However, the dog was tested after the race and was found to have traces of the prohibited substance benzoylecgonine, which is the main compound of cocaine, in its urine.

The durg is understood to have the same effect on animals as it does on humans.

It was one of separate three occasions the urine tested positive for the substance - 24 June, 1 July and 22 July at Cork Greyhound Stadium.

The dog’s trainer Graham Holland, who hit the headlines last year when the greyhound Clares Rocket was abducted from his kennels in Tipperary, told The Times Ireland that the dog could’ve got the substance from the hands of people patting its head.

The Irish Greyhound Board has withheld prize money, which includes the £27,000 for winning the Irish Laurels final, and banned the dog from racing until it has been passed clear.