Mystery when five racehorses test positive for breast cancer drug even though they all have different trainers and stables

Five Australian trainers are still searching for answers after all their horses 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 line of fire.

Kavanagh trained Shocking to win the race that stopped a nation in 2009, but his mare Circle of Magic, who finished second in a BM64 at Sandown on March 8 last year, was out of commission for 12 months after a urine sample will show traces. of formestane.

Fellow trainers Julius Sandhu (Alphaville), Symon Wilde (Sirileo Miss), Amy and Ash Yargi (Yulara) and Smiley Chan (Lake Tai) were equally baffled that their horses tested positive for the banned substance.

The stewards are expected to charge the five coaches soon.

Formestane, which is on the WADA list of banned substances, is best known in medicine for the treatment of breast cancer, primarily in postmenopausal women.

The drug is designed to inhibit estrogen production, since some breast cancer cells depend on estrogen for their viability.

But according to AgeIt also leads to an increase in the production of hormones and testosterone in the body.

While the five trainers saw their horses instantly suspended for a year, it took Racing Victoria stewards almost six months before revealing details of the positive swabs to the public.

Both the Kavanagh and Yargi stables flagged contamination as a potential source of the positive swabs in statements on the matter, but the bans were not lifted.

Wilde was left wondering what might have happened once the suspension of “his best horse” was confirmed.

Before she was retired, Sirileo Miss claimed the Group 3 Matron Stakes at Flemington and the Group 2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley.

He also stated that Sirileo Miss could end up being a very profitable broodmare, and retirement was discussed, before finally deciding to race her again.

“He’s missed a full 12 months in the prime of his career and it doesn’t seem entirely fair,” Wilde said.

‘It has been very frustrating. You’ve got a good, healthy horse sitting there.

And despite many questions about how traces of a breast cancer drug appeared in urine samples (taken from five different horses, trained in five different stables and raced on five different tracks), it seems the mystery may never be solved. .