Five Victorian trainers fighting to protect their livelihoods and reputations have been hit with $24,000 in fines by the Victorian Racing Tribunal but are free to continue training.
The long-running case involving the presentation of horses to race with the banned substance Formestane and its metabolite 4-hydroxytestosterone in post-race urine samples that began at the VRT in late-2024 reached a conclusion on Monday.
The five trainers had changed their plea to the presentation charge to guilty after reaching an agreement with Racing Victoria but their lawyer Damian Sheales had asked the VRT not to impose a penalty given the circumstances of the case.
As part of the agreement between the parties, RV conceded that it had no evidence to suggest the trainers had done anything wrong.
Tribunal Chair, Magistrate Peter Riordan, said it was a unique case in that no administration of the substance, even by accident or contamination, can be established.
But while Riordan conceded that his Tribunal was unable to make a determination about how the horses came to have the prohibited substance in their post-race urine samples, a small financial penalty was still appropriate.
“The Tribunal finds that despite the unusual nature of this case, financial penalties are appropriate but are significantly reduced,” Riordan said.
The trainers were fined the following:
Mark and Levi Kavanagh: $6000 (incl $3,000 suspended for 12 months)
Symon Wilde: $6000 (incl $3,000 suspended for 12 months)
Amy and Ash Yargi: $4000 (incl $2,000 suspended for 12 months)
Julius Sandhu: $4000 (incl $2,000 suspended for 12 months)
Smiley Chan: $4000 (incl $2,000 suspended for 12 months)
All horses were disqualified from the respective races in which they returned a positive post-race urine sample.
RV had earlier asked the VRT to fine each trainer between $10,000 and $15,000 each.
More to come.
