Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Racehorse owners say Racing Victoria mishandled a series of cases involving a prohibited breast cancer drug with potentially “catastrophic consequences” for the industry, and raised their concerns with Racing Minister Anthony Carbines at the height of the saga.
Two owners wrote to Carbines in February calling on him to intervene in the disciplinary process, citing a lack of scientific rigour in investigations of trainers whose horses tested positive for formestane, which is used to treat breast cancer overseas.
A month after the owners lodged their written complaint with Carbines, trainers from five Victorian stables – Smiley Chan, Julius Sandhu, Symon Wilde, Mark and Levi Kavanagh, and Ash and Amy Yargi – were fined $24,000 (with $12,000 suspended) by the Victorian Racing Tribunal after their horses presented on race day with the drug in their systems.
Their runners were suspended for 12 months.
A day after that tribunal case, breakthrough research emerged at an international conference in Melbourne that found horses could produce the substance naturally.
The uproar over the breast cancer drug cases threatens to undermine trust in racing integrity, with two more cases set to appear before the tribunal in the coming weeks.
In their February letter to Carbines, seen by this masthead, the owners wrote, “ministerial oversight is required to mandate an independent, comprehensive scientific investigation before further disciplinary outcomes are finalised”.
One of the owners is Louise Bryant, part-owner of one of the positive horses, Sirileo Miss. The other asked not to be named for fear of jeopardising their position in the industry.
They claimed the increasing number of positives – now up to 24 across Victoria, Tasmanian and South Australia – “reflects systemic failures in investigation, scientific rigor, and regulatory decision-making by Racing Victoria limited and associated bodies”.
“These failures pose a serious risk of multiple prosecutions being compromised, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the industry’s integrity, international reputation, and public confidence,” they claimed.
Formestane is prohibited in racehorses because it increases levels of testosterone. It is not imported, and not approved for human or animal use in Australia.
No evidence was found at any of the stables of the trainers charged, but under the rules of racing, presentation offences are strict liability offences. That is, Racing Victoria does not have to demonstrate how the substance came to be in the horse, it just has to prove it was present.
Carbines referred the owners’ complaints to the state’s racing integrity commissioner, Terrie Benfield, but no action was taken.
Another trainer embroiled in the saga, John Hickmott, is threatening to take his case to the High Court to prove his innocence.
“I have said all along, I took my horse to the races clean, and brought him home clean. What happened to the swab after that, I don’t know,” Hickmott told this masthead.
“Somewhere along the line someone has got to stand up, and I’m sick of people telling me that I did something wrong.”
The 82-year-old Hickmott, who started training in Wangaratta in 1978 before moving to Murray Bridge in South Australia in 1989, was fined $4000 and had his horse Classy Kenny banned for 12 months after returning a positive urine sample to formestane at Morphettville races on August 16 last year.
Hickmott said he was going to take his case “as far as it has to go” to overturn the fine and guilty finding. He has a directions hearing before the South Australian Racing Appeals Tribunal on June 22.
“Nine out of 10 trainers, including me, are not that smart, so somewhere along the lines someone would have left a bottle hanging around or a whatever, but no one has ever found any evidence of any of this substance lying around,” Hickmott said.
“Sooner or later, they would have found it if it was there. But it’s not there.
“Back in the old days, it was rife – people using hormones and whatever. But since that has been outlawed, no one in their right mind would use it.
“And if they did, where would you get this stuff? It’s not on the market. It’s impossible.”
A UK study, commissioned by the British Horseracing Association, found formestane “for the first time” in 92 urine samples of 136 horses (50 geldings, 50 mares and 36 colts, selected at random), raising the possibility the substance was endogenous (produced naturally by horses).
UK-based research scientist Marjaana Viljanto presented the study at the International Conference of Racing Analysts and Veterinarians 2026 at Crown Casino on March 24 – an event hosted by Racing Analytical Service Limited, a Melbourne lab that detected the formestane positives.
The integrity commissioner’s office told the owners they were aware of the conference, but Benfield did not have the powers to investigate matters within the jurisdiction of courts or tribunals.
In a letter to the owners, Benfield said racing’s controlling bodies “are responsible for establishing integrity standards and rules” and that Racing Victoria had “belatedly” provided the owners “with an opportunity to be heard”.
Benfield said she did not “propose to investigate your complaint at this time”.
“Owners may consider seeking legal remedy to address perceived procedural fairness or decision-making deficiencies,” Benfield said.
Benfield said she did not comment on individual complaints.
At the time Racing Victoria said it had been aware of Viljanto’s presentation at ICRAV 2026, but not “the specific detail”.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that our stewards have acted inappropriately in their handling of cases involving formestane and its associated substances,” a Racing Victorian spokesperson said.
“All cases have been handled in accordance with the Australian Rules of Racing based on the information available to the stewards at the time.”
A Victorian government spokesperson said it was “appropriate that Racing Victoria and the Integrity Commissioner can conduct their investigations independently of government”.
Racing Victoria is continuing to prosecute cases before the Victorian Racing Tribunal, including separate charges against members of two famous racing families – Patrick Payne and Tom Dabernig, who is the grandson of Colin Hayes.
Dabernig is scheduled to appear on July 8, while Payne’s case has been adjourned until August 3.
Payne has reserved his plea, depending on questions he has put to the stewards involving his case that need to be answered by July 8.
This masthead does not suggest Racing Victoria acted improperly or ignored relevant science.
At the time of the tribunal hearings, Viljanto’s research had not been published or peer-reviewed – a process that can take 12 months – and its conclusions remain unvalidated.
Racing Victoria has commissioned a study with RASL to determine if formestane and its metabolites occur naturally at low levels in racehorses. This could lead to a testing threshold.
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