The British Horseracing Authority said that it will double the number of horses it tests at their own stables in 2014, while the number of post-race tests will also increase by 20%.  Both measures will be introduced following a review of the BHA's anti-doping and medication control policy, while the authority will also increase its investment in research, including into the possible use of hair sampling, to detect historic abuse of banned substances.  The BHA's announcement comes at the end of a year in which Godolphin's former trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned for eight years for doping at least 22 horses at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket with anabolic steroids.  Steroids were also at the centre of the long-running Sungate scandal, which culminated in Gerard Butler receiving a five-year ban for injecting his horses with a steroid bought over the internet. Nine other Newmarket trainers, whose horses were treated with the drug Sungate, which contains an anabolic steroid, escaped BHA charges as the result of a loophole in the Rules of Racing which has since been closed.  "Modern day anti-doping strategies across all sports are increasingly focusing on out-of-competition testing," Paul Bittar, the BHA's chief executive, said on Sunday, "as trends move towards substances that are administered well in advance of the performance to allow athletes to compete 'substance free' on the day.  "As such, BHA's anti-doping strategy for 2014 has an increased emphasis on testing in training."  Around 700 horses were tested in training in 2012, and it is expected that the figure for 2013 will have been slightly higher. A total of 7,182 raceday samples were taken in 2012, from 90,174 runners, with 14 returning a positive result.  Un De Sceaux, the winner of two novice hurdles at Punchestown earlier in the year, is a 25-1 chance for the Champion Hurdle in March after an easy success at odds of 1-16 in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Hurdle at Thurles on Sunday. Ruby Walsh made all the running on Willie Mullins's gelding and passed the post 29 lengths clear.  "He wears his heart on his sleeve, so tactics are never going to be an issue with him, he just jumps out and goes," Walsh said. "He handles real soft ground - the softer the better really, I suppose. He can go very fast for very long. However fast the others wanted to go, I'd have been going faster. He has to go on and take on the bigger opposition and the better horses, but the dream is alive, there's no doubt about that."
The British Horseracing Authority has announced increases in dope-testing at stables and on the track following a policy review