March 7th: Avanti Express, sent off the 5 to 4 second favourite at Exeter after opening at 4 to 5, was well beaten when pulled up before two out. Jockey Jamie Osborne reported immediately after the race that the gelding usually takes a strong hold, but on this occasion had "not picked up the bit and was never travelling". The local stewards interviewed trainer Charlie Egerton over the horse's poor showing but he could offer no explanation. Avanti Express became the subject of a routine dope test.
March 29th: Lively Knight, the 1 to 7 favourite for the Seeboard Novices' Chase at Plumpton, finished second of three runners, beaten seven lengths by outsider Stormhill Pilgrim. The Plumpton stewards asked questions about Lively Knight's defeat and trainer Josh Gifford told them he had no explanation for the horse's running. Jockey Leighton Aspell later reported: "There wasn't anything obviously wrong about him, but I would say he seemed very quiet, abnormally so perhaps." Lively Knight was also routinely dope tested.
October 9th: The Jockey Club reveals security officials are looking into the defeats of Avanti Express and Lively Knight after the dope tests proved positive. David Pipe, the Jockey Club spokesman, refused to speculate as to whether the two cases were linked. "With inquiries continuing I cannot give further details, but we are keeping our options open," he said.
October 10th: The Jockey Club established links between the two doping cases. It was confirmed both Avanti Express and Lively Knight were given the prohibited fast-acting tranquilliser acetylpromazine (ACP). The drug revealed itself in urine tests as 2-1-hydroxyethyl promazine, a metabolite of ACP.
The Metropolitan Police were subsequently called in to investigate the two incidents.
January 27th: The Jockey Club was informed by the police that a number of people had been arrested in connection with the doping of two horses in 1997 and other incidents of race fixing. The arrests were made following extensive investigations, first by the Jockey Club's security department and then by the Metropolitan Police, with the continued participation of the Jockey Club.
