“This is the cocaine line?” jokes a man as we queue for the toilets at Epsom Racecourse.
Despite being incredibly drunk, he managed to identify the real reason I was here. Not to participate, but to see if I could find evidence of racing’s alleged growing drug problem.
During the two days at the Epsom Derby Festival, where more than 60,000 people gathered for one of the most prestigious sporting events, I witnessed the obvious sights and sounds of drug use several times.
At “The Greatest Show on Lawn,” I discovered that references to cocaine use are not only common, but sometimes even celebrated, with seemingly obvious drug users exhorted at the finish line as favorites.
The Derby Festival was held at Epsom Downs on 31 May
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And cocaine seemed to be winning, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Wandering from booth to booth, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the sound of snorting.
In one toilet, a disembodied voice shouted “Hey boys, it’s snowing in here!”, while in another a man joked “Nothing to see in here, officer!”.
One scene took place in the toilets near the Tattenham Food Court.
I saw two men cheering loudly as they slipped into the same stall together, while another used a urinal to shout “Oi gimmie a sniff!” at the pair. However, they ignored him and finished before he even buttoned his pants.
And all this took place despite the participation of His Majesty King Charles III. and Her Majesty Queen Camilla, who presented the trophy to the winners on Ladies’ Day.
It suggests fresh evidence that racing ‘Peaky Blinders’ remains an enduring interest for the sport.
King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the “Ladies Day” of the Betfred Derby Festival
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First highlighted in April by ex-jockey and trainer Charlie Brooks in The Telegraph, he warned how once “polite sporting events” such as Cheltenham had been “completely transformed” by young men enjoying the style and habits of gangsters from the BBC drama series . Festival.
There have been calls for tighter security, but despite sniffer dogs at the entrance, bag searches, amnesty bins and dozens of uniformed officers, it seems clear that cocaine has still made its way into Epsom.
But GB News can reveal that racing’s drug problem appears to be more diverse than just cocaine.
We used a surface wipe screening kit that tests and identifies residues from ten individual drug groups. When a drug is detected above the cutoff, a single line appears in the “control” area to indicate a positive result.
Tests we performed on surfaces across Epsom toilet blocks indicated the presence of several different narcotics.
This image appears to show a positive test for cocaine (Coc) tested at the Epsom Derby Festival
GB News
Although cocaine was the most prevalent class A that appeared to be present, our tests also showed the presence of meth – both drugs with a possible sentence of up to seven years in prison for possession.
Benzodiazepines or “benzos,” an opioid that causes amnesia and muscle relaxation and is often associated with binge drinking and date rape, also appear to be present.
We also found indications of drugs used to reverse opioid withdrawal, such as heroin. Buprenorphine was the most common along with methadone.
Although tests like this are limited and can only provide a preliminary analytical result, 47 percent reported at least one controlled substance.
This despite the combined efforts of Surrey and Sussex Police forces and The Jockey Club’s own security measures.
Police say 10 arrests were made over two days, but only one was for suspected possession of Class A drugs.
A spokesman for the Jockey Club, which runs Epsom, Aintree and Cheltenham racecourses, said: “We at The Jockey Club are passionate about providing a safe and enjoyable experience for all who visit our premises, and the tens of thousands of people who joined us over the two days at Epsom Downs did so, behaving respectfully and responsibly.
Police said 10 arrests were made over two days, but only one was for suspected possession of Class A drugs
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“Unfortunately, drug use is a growing societal problem and something that horse racing in Britain is fighting hard to tackle, with The Jockey Club taking a zero tolerance approach to illegal substances at all our racecourses.”
“A number of measures have been put in place at Epsom Downs, including sniffer dogs, bag searches and patrols at all entrances, as well as amnesty bins. Anyone who attempted to access the site and was in possession of an illegal substance was refused entry and given no refund for their ticket purchase, with such cases also being reported to the police.
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“Furthermore, we would always encourage anyone who has reason to suspect any form of anti-social behavior to contact our teams or the police as soon as possible.”
A spokesman for the UK Racing Authority, which is responsible for the management, administration and regulation of horse racing and the wider horse racing industry in Britain, said: “Horse racing is a sport that everyone can enjoy and the key to this is ensuring that racegoers have a positive experience when attend horse races.
“We condemn all forms of anti-social behaviour, including drug use. Currently, this is a wider societal problem, but it is also a problem for sporting events, and therefore sport must intervene to discourage its use. We are aware that our colleagues at UK racecourses are working hard to reduce the incidence of its impact on racedays and we support these efforts.