An orange gooey muscle relaxant is the source of the capsaicin that was found in the positive doping test of Latinus, the horse ridden by Denis Lynch of Ireland.
Irish team veterinarian Marcus Swail said Lynch regularly applied Equi-Block - an equine version of Deep Heat - to Latinus' lower back as a part of his warm-up routine.
'It was part of his routine during the bigger wins he's had this year,' said Swail, adding that the horse had tested negative numerous times this season. 'So it's a considerable surprise to us that it has tested positive today. Denis was so certain that it wasn't a problem that he didn't even think to draw it to my attention.'
In his preliminary hearing with the International Equestrian Federation, Lynch explained the origin of the substance, but remained suspended for Thursday night's individual showjumping final.
'I'm shattered,' Lynch said. 'That's it, shattered. I can't say any more.'
On the Equi-Block container the sentence 'contains capsaicin, will not test positive' is highlighted in yellow with 'capsaicin' written in capital letters.
Lynch believed he should have been allowed to compete on Thursday. 'I don't think I've done anything wrong,' said Lynch. 'If someone wants to make something out of it, off they go. I've got nothing to hide.'
