By Cornelius Lysaght BBC racing correspondent

A jockey sidled up to me, and pointed knowingly at a horse being unsaddled in front of us after winning a small race at a course in the west of England.

Viagra has been a cause of concern in Italian racing

The latest in a rich vein of form for his upwardly mobile trainer, the runner had, as they say, trotted up.

As a handful of successful punters applauded, my companion muttered under his breath: "Yes, all very good, but they say it's all down to Viagra."

"What, the Viagra?" I asked.

"Is there any other?" he responded. "It's not just useful for you-know-what."

Well, the potential here for every kind of joke revolving around studs, stallions and goodness knows what else is obvious, but, for the racing industry, this is no laughing matter.

There have been scandals involving use of the drug best known for aiding sexual performance on racehorses in Macau, south east Asia and in the United States.

In all cases, the authorities handed out disqualifications and/or fines.

Meanwhile, a police inquiry into alleged Viagra doping linked to gambling around Naples in southern Italy has seen as many as 24 people, including two vets and a pharmacist, arrested.

In Britain, the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA) has recognised the threat by adding Viagra to its list of banned substances.

Our labs have been testing for it for over a year Peter Webbon, HRA chief executive

"This drug is all about the re-distribution of blood, as we know," the HRA chief executive Peter Webbon, a veterinary expert, explained, "and that's where it could be employed in racing.

"Bleeding (the breaking of blood vessels deep down inside the horse, affecting its ability to race) is a constant problem that trainers try to overcome, and this could make a difference.

"By reducing blood pressure in the lungs, you can reduce bleeding and therefore, crucially, enhance performance, which is why it's banned.

"Our labs have been testing for it for over a year, and there have been no positives returned."

So, though technically feasible, it's long odds against what that jockey told me being correct - they'd have been caught out - and the word 'jealousy' springs readily to mind.

Over the years, I can recall the racecourse gossip machine chattering away about everything from blood transfusions to jungle juice in relation to rising training talent.

However, with the sophisticated testing procedures that exist after every race in Britain, it almost certainly can't happen.

Some of the new kids on the block are simply better. Perhaps some of the old guard need some kind of (legal) Viagra to help them keep up.