BHA must summon Sheikh Mohammed to answer questions over how his drug-hit stable Godolphin is run In crisis mode, and with the Sheikh's reputation tarnished, Godolphin on Saturday avoided the obvious temptation to claim the problem had been cleared up by Al Zarooni's removal. Simon Crisford, the Sheikh's right-hand man, who has taken the blame for recommending Al Zarooni, flew to Dubai to meet his employer promising to "flush out any, any bit of corruption from the core. It has to go, we have to know the truth and we will get to the bottom of it. The speed of Al Zarooni's arraignment suggested to some that a quick show trial might be staged to protect Sheikh Mohammed's dignity, while other conspirators sank into the background on Newmarket Heath, where 450 Godolphin horses are divided between Al Zarooni - whose yard is now in lock-down for testing of every inmate - and Saeed bin Surror. The scale of the Maktoum investment in British racing is such that a withdrawal by Sheikh Mohammed would devastate not only Newmarket but the top echelons of the sport, which is dominated by the big Arab owners and the so-called "Coolmore mafia" in Ireland. But the BHA, encouragingly, does not consider the scandal closed. At Thursday's hearing it emerged that two foremen and a veterinary assistant were also involved, whether unwittingly or not. This narrative requires proper investigation with cross-examination for the BHA to determine who should face further charges and who inside the Godolphin set-up should no longer be employed. Paul Bittar, the BHA chief executive, said: "Some of the investigations are on-going. The vet's assistant who has been mentioned is a nebulous term in a way as he's not really a vet at all, he just simply assists, but he's not captured under the rules. The interviews with the foremen are on-going but because of Al Zarooni having responsibility for the horses we needed to deal with him first. Focus also shifts now to the 600-700 out of competition tests conducted each year on the 20,000 horses registered in training. Although 7,182 raceday samples were taken last year, the Al Zarooni case throws up the nightmare scenario of widespread performance-enhancing drug use in the training process, which would be consistent with other sports such as cycling and athletics. If a top stable packed with designer bloodstock can feel the need to cheat, what is the likelihood of illegal chemicals being used at smaller, struggling yards? Godolphin's change in attitude as the week wore on displayed a growing awareness of what will be needed to cleanse the Augean stables. Crisford began by saying: "This is an isolated incident at the hands of a reckless person who has shown no respect for horse racing in this country. The vet's assistant had no idea what he was injecting. He had a direct order from the trainer. Everybody knows that you can't use steroids in England. I represent the owner's best interests. Of course, one of my responsibilities is to oversee the trainers in Godolphin, but I cannot be involved in a day-to-day business about what kind of medication these trainers are using. I recommended the appointment of Mahmood and today that has proved to be very poor judgment. As the contagion spread, and his own indignation increased, Crisford talked of "flushing out corruption." When all the facts are known, Godolphin will ask themselves how a trainer could import steroids from Dubai and illegally inject the winter favourite for the 1,000 Guineas without anyone in senior management knowing. The bloodletting could be intense. "When his horses failed the tests for painkillers last year, we sat down with him and told him he had to keep his records maintained in a much more efficient manner," Crisford said of Al Zarooni. It will take a long time to recover from this, but Sheikh Mohammed will make sure everything is done and that the stable is 100 per cent clean before any horses get transferred to any other stables. Bittar says: "British racing should be really proud that there is zero tolerance here as far as anabolic steroids are concerned. I look to Australia and think it's anomalous that they take such a view of athletes using performance-enhancing drugs but think it's OK to use them on horses. This commendable policy showed British racing in a good light, but the final step would be the most risky: summoning Sheikh Mohammed himself to be interviewed about the cheating in his empire.