- All five horses tested positive to formestane in 2023
- Followed racing at Victorian tracks, 12-month bans followed
- Formestane is typically a drug used to treat breast cancer
Five Australian trainers are still searching for answers after their horses all tested positive for formestane – a drug used to treat breast cancer.
Racing Victoria stewards launched a 12-month investigation after the discovery, with Melbourne Cup winning trainer Mark Kavanagh one of the quintet in the firing line.
Kavanagh famously trained Shocking to victory in the race that stops a nation back in 2009 – but his mare Circle of Magic, which finished second in a BM64 at Sandown on March 8 last year, was stood down for 12 months after a urine sample displayed traces of formestane.
Fellow trainers Julius Sandhu (Alphaville), Symon Wilde (Sirileo Miss), Amy and Ash Yargi (Yulara) and Smiley Chan (Lake Tai) were equally bemused at their horses testing positive to the prohibited substance.
It is expected all five trainers will soon be charged by stewards.
Mark Kavanagh (pictured left) is one of five trainers still searching for answers after their horses tested positive for formestane – a drug used to treat breast cancer – last year
Formestane – which is on the WADA banned list – is best known medically for the treatment of breast cancer, mainly in postmenopausal women.
The drug is designed to inhibit the production of estrogen, as some breast cancer cells rely on estrogen for viability.
But according to The Age, it also leads to an increase in the body’s production of hormones and testosterone.
While all five trainers saw their horses banned instantly for a year, it took Racing Victoria stewards almost six months before they released details of the positive swabs to the public.
Both the Kavanagh and Yargi stables pointed to contamination as a potential source of the positive swabs in statements addressing the matter – but the bans were not lifted.
The Symon Wilde trained Sirileo Miss won the group 3 Matron Stakes at Flemington and the group 2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley before her suspension
Wilde was left pondering what might have been once the suspension was confirmed of ‘his best horse.’
Before she was stood down, Sirileo Miss claimed the group 3 Matron Stakes at Flemington and the group 2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley.
He also stated Sirileo Miss could end up being a highly profitable broodmare, and retirement was discussed – before ultimately deciding to again race her.
‘She has missed a whole 12 months in the prime of her racing life, and it doesn’t seem quite fair,’ Wilde said.
‘It’s been very frustrating. You have a good, sound horse just sitting there.’
And despite many questions surrounding how traces of a breast cancer drug appeared in the urine samples – taken from five different horses, trained by five different stables, and racing at five different tracks – it appears the mystery may never be solved.