Calcutta, Jan. 30 :    Calcutta, Jan. 30:  Wherever there's a finishing line, there's the fear of foul play. Wherever there is a race, there is the risk of performance-enhancing drugs. It's no different at the race course. But turf officials in Calcutta are saddling up to stamp out the menace. Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC), which has already initiated a series of measures to restore the lost glory of the sport in the city, has also taken the lead in cleaning up racing of the doping stigma. Following the recent suspension of trainer Peter Locke for a doping offence, RCTC's strict norms to curb the menace have come into sharp focus. Locke's licence has been withdrawn till April 2003 for 'trying to influence the club's veterinary officers in switching urine samples, thereby resorting to corrupt practice, and testing positive for a host of prohibited substances'. RCTC authorities are 'really concerned' over the traces of nicotine found in the urine sample of Locke-trained Fencai - a first on the Calcutta course - and are working in close conjunction with various clubs overseas to try and weed out this new threat. The club is in constant touch with Jockey Club of London, Singapore Turf Club, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Jockey Club of Southern Africa and Racing Victoria, the jockey club of Australia, over this. 'We are committed to keeping the course clean. Article 6 of the international agreement on racing and breeding, which deals specifically with drug control, and of which India is a total signatory, stipulates that any substance that can have an effect on any of the biological or physiological systems of a horse, thereby affecting its performance, is a prohibitive substance,' explains Vineet Verma, secretary and CEO, RCTC. Any sample taken from a horse, found to contain a prohibited substance, is automatically disqualified and penal action on the professionals is governed by a set of guidelines adopted by the turf authorities in India. Fines can range from Rs 5,000 upwards and suspension for professionals from 15 days to the withdrawal of licence, depending on the category of prohibited substance used. 'At the RCTC, we follow the guidelines set by the national turf authorities, based on which sampling and testing procedures are undertaken by the club's veterinary officers,' says Verma. All horses finishing first, second and third in all graded and important races are automatically tested and the primary samples sent to the Forensic Laboratory of Hong Kong. In addition, the general convention followed in Calcutta is that failed favourites, unexpected winners and horses showing strange behaviour before or after the race, are among those generally tested. Sampling is absolutely random otherwise, and the information as to which horse is to be sampled, is sent out to the vet officers at the last moment to maintain total secrecy. 'The principle behind such rigid controls is to ensure that racing remains as free as possible from the misuse of prohibited substances,' says the turf club chief. If the primary sample comes back from Hong Kong, testing positive to a banned substance, the owner and trainer concerned are given the option to send the split sample to a reference lab in the UK or France, at the owner's cost. It's only in the event of the confirmatory analysis of the split sample returning positive that the club considers the horse to have tested positive and the penal action is automatic thereafter.