Payne baffled by horse’s positive test to breast cancer drug

Country trainer Patrick Payne says he was shocked when told by Racing Victoria stewards that his horse Hard To Cross had tested positive to a drug used to treat breast cancer.

The former star jockey, who now trains in partnership with his sister, Melbourne Cup winner Michelle, at Plumpton, said he had never heard of anabolic steroid formestane before he was approached by stewards in June.

Formestane is designed to inhibit the production of estrogen in cancer patients, as some breast cancer cells depend on estrogen for viability.

Trainer Patrick Payne is the brother of Melbourne Cup-winning former hoop Michelle Payne.Credit: Getty Images

But it also leads to an increase in the body’s production of hormones and testosterone (4-hydroxytestosterone) – considered by doping authorities to have performance enhancing qualities.

Stewards released a statement on Tuesday to say Payne’s four-year-old gelding had been banned from racing for 12 months after two separate post-race urine samples from May this year revealed traces of the drug.

Stewards also released a statement on Tuesday to say that trainer Luke Oliver, who is based at Cranbourne, had been charged with having a separate horse test positive to methamphetamine.

Oliver, whose horse Justdoit returned a positive urine sample after winning at Flemington on August 3, told this masthead on Tuesday night: “It feels like the stewards have identified the likely source of the contamination and I’m sure it will be handled appropriately”.

He is expected to appear before the Victorian Racing Tribunal to answer the charge at a date to be fixed.

Payne said his stable had been working with Racing Victoria to try and pinpoint the source of Hard To Cross’ contamination.

“You get a bit suspicious of your staff members, and you go through all your feed and that sort of stuff,” he said.

“But we are working quite closely with Racing Victoria, and they have been excellent. We are trying to work out where the contamination has come from.

“It has to be a contamination. I can’t think of anything else.”

Stewards took urine samples from Hard To Cross after it won 1600-metre races at Sandown on May 15 and May 25.

Tests found traces of formestane, which is a steroidal aromatase inhibitor, and its metabolite 4-Hydroxytestosterone, which is classified as an anabolic steroid and is a prohibited substance in racing.

Stewards told Payne of the first positive on June 25, and the second positive on July 5. Their investigation is continuing.

“You have got to feel for the owners,” Payne said. “It is a shock for them, and they are obviously disappointed.

“But the horse is a bit on the immature side, so I think he will still come back as a good race horse after a year.”

Formestane is not known to be contained in therapeutic medications registered for use in horses.

The drug, which is also on the WADA banned list, had never been detected in Australian racing circles before last year. Racing Victoria revealed it was not legally available for human use in Australia.

This masthead reported in April that trainers at five Victorian stables had been charged over their horses testing positive to formestane.

Smiley Chan, Mark and Levi Kavanagh, Julius Sandhu, Symon Wilde, and Ash and Amy Yargi are all due to face the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a total of 12 charges in March next year.

The trainers have indicated they will plead not guilty as they believe contamination is the most likely cause of the positives.

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