‘Catastrophic consequences’: Racehorse owners warned minister over breast cancer drug saga

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.

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