Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
It was revealed last week that Racing Victoria had walked back part of the charges against five trainers whose horses tested positive for formestane and its metabolites in early 2023, and the regulator withdrew previously significant evidence given by RV Regulatory Veterinarian Dr Edwina Wilkes from the case. With the charges now changed to presentation for all five trainers, the regulator heads towards a plea hearing on February 24 with a smaller bank of evidence to draw from.
Further details about Racing Victoria’s investigations into the presence of formestane, a drug approved overseas for combatting breast cancer, in raceday urine samples have emerged that show that there has still been no exogenous reason found for the positives, meaning that no materials or drugs have been found in any of the trainers’ stables or surrounds that could have caused the positive results.
Unannounced stable inspections have found nothing, and further blood and hair tests for the horses have also not reproduced the positive.
Formestane has been known to occur endogenously in human urine, meaning the substance originated from within the organism, and a 2017 study by Thijs Meijer et al on livestock detected formestane in the urine of cows known to have not been treated with the substance.
There are very few studies of the drug in horses beyond a study published by Dr Gary Leung et al in 2013, where the drug was deliberately administered in order to assess how it was metabolised by horses.
Dr Edwina Wilkes | Image courtesy of Racing Victoria
In excerpts from the Victoria Racing Tribunal transcripts shared by betsy.com.au on Wednesday, Dr Wilkes cited a paper by an author known as Moeller as part of her now retracted evidence; it is believed that this refers to Dr Benjamin C Moeller, a professor at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who has written a number of papers on the topics of equine anti-doping, steroid use, and production in horses and beef cattle.
She also referenced the work of Dr Heather Knych, who has performed extensive research on the metabolism of medications in racehorses. Both have been credited by the American Veterinary Medical Association for how their work has assisted the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) in reducing track fatalities in the States.
The paper referenced by Dr Wilkes is reportedly not accessible by the public, but lawyer Darren Sheales, representing the five trainers charged, asserts that the content does not match what Dr Wilkes claims, and that Dr Wilkes relied on Dr Knych’s description of the work in her evidence to the tribunal.
In the shared excerpts, Dr Wilkes does admit that “it’s possible” that the positives could be of endogenous origin, which would in turn mean that a positive result would be out of a trainer’s control.
In all of the current stewards’ reports for horses that have returned positive swab results for formestane and its metabolites, there is no mention of a threshold amount for the steroid, as there would be for testosterone, which is also classified as a steroid despite naturally occurring to various levels in mares, and geldings as well as entires.
In addition to the above, former Racing Victoria investigator spoke anonymously to betsy.com.au on Wednesday about the investigation and asserted that there was also no evidence of contaminated feed or incorrect use of supplements that could have caused the positives.
They also alleged that there was a “culture” amongst Compliance Assurance Team staff that trainers returning positive swabs tended to be guilty of deliberate administration, and that several requests to investigate alternative sources or reasons for the positives were dismissed by those in charge of the operation.
