Midway through（在……进行到一半时）/ˌmɪdˈweɪ θruː/ the county agricultural fair, racing（赛马）/'reɪsɪŋ/ steward Rowan Pike received a positive stimulant result from feed sample 7B. The label named a championship mare（母马）/meə/, yet its receipt stub（票据存根）/stʌb/ carried the number of a popcorn（爆米花）/'pɒpkɔːn/ stall. Rowan suspended the final at the racecourse（赛马场）/'reɪskɔːs/ and sealed the bag in question（所涉及的）/ɪn ˈkwestʃən/ before further handling（在进一步接触处理之前）/bɪˈfɔː ˈfɜːðə ˈhændlɪŋ/. The inquiry had to establish whether the horse had received a banned substance or the sample chain had failed.
Concession records exposed the first mismatch. A vendor had used a sieve（筛子）/sɪv/ for popcorn seasoning and sold a muffin（松饼）/'mʌfɪn/ with each drink. The milkman（牛奶配送员）/'mɪlkmən/'s refrigerated cart stood beside the stall, while an old tobacconist（烟草商）/tə'bæk(ə)nɪst/ sign marked the next booth. A steward had paused there to snuff（熄灭）/snʌf/ a smoking candle. A hurried scrawl（潦草字迹）/skrɔːl/ on one box and a pencil scribble（铅笔乱写）/'skrɪb(ə)l/ on another looked alike after rain. A vintage（老式的）/'vɪntɪdʒ/ label printer had advanced two numbers when its paper jammed. That mechanical error explained why the concession stub appeared on a veterinary bag.
The stable team then verified every horse record. The mare and a stallion（种马）/'stæljən/ from the stud（种马场）/stʌd/ shared a manger（饲料槽）/'meɪn(d)ʒə/ wall but not fodder（饲料）/'fɒdə/; their colt（小马驹）/kəʊlt/ and a small pony（矮种马）/'pəʊnɪ/ occupied separate pens. A horseman（骑手）/'hɔːsmən/ had ridden the mare on horseback（马背）/'hɔːsbæk/, braided her mane（鬃毛）/meɪn/ with horsehair（马毛）/'hɔːsheə/, and logged every serving of mash（混合饲料）/mæʃ/. Inspectors set aside（暂时搁置）/set əˈsaɪd/ a decorative hobbyhorse（木马道具）/'hɒbɪhɔːs/ and horsey（马术主题的）/'hɔːsɪ/ poster. They also removed an unauthorized horsewhip（马鞭）/'hɔːswɪp/ from the equipment rack, although it had no connection to the laboratory result. None of those objects proved doping or identified sample 7B.
Livestock entries clarified the remaining feed codes. A farmhand（农场工人）/'fɑːmhænd/ from a nearby estancia（大牧场）/e'stænsɪə/ had delivered lentil（小扁豆）/'lent(ə)l/ fodder beside a haystack（干草堆）/'heɪstæk/. Separate batches fed an ewe（母羊）/juː/, a heifer（小母牛）/'hefə/, and a hog（猪）/hɒg/ in the pigsty（猪舍）/'pɪgstaɪ/; the swine（猪只）/swaɪn/ record also noted a bristle（猪鬃样本）/'brɪs(ə)l/ sample. Fowl（家禽）/faʊl/ pens held a chick（雏鸡）/tʃɪk/ and rooster（公鸡）/'ruːstə/, while a rescued pheasant（雉鸡）/'fez(ə)nt/ received grain. A veal（小牛肉）/viːl/ sales sheet referred to an animal absent from the fair. Charity photographs of an antelope（羚羊）/'æntɪləʊp/, hippo（河马）/'hɪpəʊ/, and rhino（犀牛）/'raɪnəʊ/ were display material, not feeding records. The distinctions prevented one code from covering unrelated animals.
Produce and floral invoices traced the faulty label roll. Farmland（农田）/'fɑːmlænd/ cooperatives exhibiting farming（农业生产）/'fɑːmɪŋ/ methods supplied broccoli（西兰花）/'brɒkəlɪ/, celery（芹菜）/'selərɪ/, mango（芒果）/'mæŋgəʊ/, pineapple（菠萝）/'paɪnæp(ə)l/, and lychee（荔枝）/'laɪtʃiː; 'lɪ-/. A florist（花商）/'flɒrɪst/ arranged chrysanthemum（菊花）/krɪ'sænθɪməm; -z-/, reed（芦苇）/riːd/, and a garland（花环）/'gɑːlənd/, then used spare stems to wreathe（用花枝环绕）/riːð/ a display frame beside the main wreath（花圈）/riːθ/. The booth's kaleidoscope（万花筒图案）/kə'laɪdəskəʊp/ pattern appeared on the label backing. On behalf of（代表）/ɒn bɪˈhɑːf əv/ the fair, Rowan matched the printer outlay（支出）/'aʊtleɪ/ to that booth and found a missing sequence exactly in line with（与……一致）/ɪn laɪn wɪð/ the disputed numbers.
Rowan told the trainer, 男“We can clear the horse only after a fresh sample, but we cannot treat a concession label as medical evidence.” Rowan did not reopen the track until new tests from sealed feed and blood were negative. The laboratory then began to carry out（实施）/ˈkæri aʊt/ a full label reconciliation and found no basis for（没有……的依据）/nəʊ ˈbeɪsɪs fɔː/ a doping charge. The mare returned to racing by noon（在中午之前）/baɪ nuːn/, and officials corrected the protocol ahead of schedule（提前完成进度）/əˈhed əv ˈʃedjuːl/. The final reconciliation was exact: all thirty-two samples matched their collection points, so no animal or vendor remained under a false code.