Owners of disqualified horses that returned positive swabs to Formestane and 4-Hydroxytesterone are the big losers in an expanding saga that threatens to disrupt Victorian racing.
In one case, a potential broodmare had her value slashed by $400,000 after being caught up in the fiasco, despite Racing Victoria now admitting any substances detected were not deliberately administered. Other owners watched the careers of their runners essentially end despite no fault of their own, or their trainers.
At least 24 thoroughbred and standardbred horses in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have returned post-race urine samples containing traces of the banned substances since they were first detected at Victoria’s RASL lab in February 2023.
All trainers have denied administering the substances and Racing Victoria has not been able to determine the source, with the process leaving owners in the dark about the status of their horses.
While the first five trainers charged by Racing Victoria have spent more than $100,000 on legal costs in a bid to fight the charges and clear their name in a case that remains before the Victorian Racing Tribunal, the cost to their owners has also been significant.
Under the Australian Rules of Racing, thoroughbreds that test positive to anabolic steroids like 4-Hydroxytestoterone are banned from racing for 12 months from the positive swab.
The horses that were banned include Symon Wilde’s multiple Stakes winner Sirileo Miss, who returned a positive after her win in the G3 Matron Stakes at Flemington.
She won the G2 Sunline Stakes and ran unplaced in the G1 Queen of the Turf Stakes in Sydney in the following weeks before the test was confirmed.
She was disqualified from the Matron Stakes and stood down from racing following the positive swab.
The daughter of Pride Of Dubai returned to race after the ban lapsed in 2024 but ran unplaced in five of her six starts and was retired shortly after as a seven-year-old mare.
During a five-day hearing into the charges against Wilde and four other trainers at the Victorian Racing Tribunal in December, evidence was tabled that, as well as potential loss of prizemoney during the ban, Sirileo Miss’ broodmare value was slashed.
Having initially been valued at $800,000 by auction house Inglis, the mare sold for $400,000 at the 2025 Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
Julius Sandhu’s horse Alphaville returned a positive swab at his first and only metropolitan win at The Valley in February 2023.
The gelding never raced after his 12-month ban expired.
Lake Tai won three of his four starts for unheralded trainer Smiley Chan before his positive swab was confirmed and he was stood down from racing for 12 months.
The gelding finished last in his only two starts after returning to the track.
The 12-month disqualification also effectively ended the career of Amy and Ash Yargi’s gelding Yulara who, after 12 months on the sidelines, returned to racing and finished unplaced in nine starts.
Patrick Payne’s horse Hard To Cross has appeared to buck the trend.
The gelding returned positive swabs after two of his wins during a hot run of form in mid-2024 and was banned from racing until May 2025.
In eight starts since returning to the track, Hard To Cross defeated subsequent G1 winner Globe at The Valley and ran second in the Mildura Cup and Ballarat’s Gold Nugget.
