Newmarket trainer Clive Brittain has said some of his horses had been treated with a banned steroid but he does not expect to be charged by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) because they were out of training, The Guardian reported.

Brittain is the second Newmarket trainer to talk about the use of a medication known as Sungate, a joint treatment which contains the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol.

Fellow Newmarket-based trainer Gerard Butler faces charges from the BHA of administering the medication to several of his horses in training and could lose his licence.

Butler said in April, after Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni had his licence revoked for eight years for doping racehorses, that Sungate was used at his stables on veterinary advice.

Brittain, who has won many of the world’s leading races including the Breeders’ Cup, told The Guardian he expected to avoid punishment from the BHA because the horses in question were out of training at the time.

“They (the BHA) came round and we had a talk,” Brittain said, adding that he had been given no indication if he would face charges but would be “surprised” if he did.

“Any of the horses that were treated by the vets were horses recovering from serious injury,” he said. “They weren’t in training, they were at rest.”