“It is a phenomenon which is exploding but which is little known: the doping of racehorses.
We discovered that it was very easy to do but difficult to prove.
The director Julie Pichot tells the backstage of her documentary on this new sports scandal which recalls the doping cases in the cycling world of the 1990s, but this time on thoroughbreds who participate in horse racing.
A prohibited practice, which endangers animals and which distorts the entire horse racing betting market, valued at several hundred million euros.
Read alsoSuspicions of doping in horse racing: behind the scenes of the investigation
Her investigation of several months will have led her to Dubai “We went to this improbable place, the Camel Market, it is a real open-air doping market for horses and camels, says director Julie Pichot.
In a few hours we bought 1000 euros worth of products.
The journalist also mentions the pressures and threats hanging over whistleblowers who mention the phenomenon.
“The sums that are at stake with sports betting are astronomical.
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The journalist also evokes a very closed environment in which any criticism is impossible.
"It's one of the only sports I know where the parent company France galop (organizing company for national flat and obstacle races) owns the laboratory responsible for carrying out anti-doping tests on horses", she explains. .
Find “Horse racing: the big cheat?
on France 2 Thursday January 5 at 11:00 p.m.
A documentary produced by the TV Presse agency, based on information from two journalists from Le Parisien, for "Complément d'Enquête"