Former top apprentice Jason Maskiell will front stewards next week after returning a positive drug test.
Racing Victoria stewards on Friday received confirmation from Racing Analytical Services Limited of a banned substance detected in a urine sample which Maskiell provided at the Echuca race meeting on August 22.
The substance has not been named.
Maskiell has been ordered to attend a stewards’ inquiry on Monday.
The 21-year-old only returned to race riding on August 19 after taking two months off for personal reasons.
However, on the comeback trail, he failed to get success in 14 rides.
Two of his four mounts at Echuca finished last, while the others finished second last and third last.
He hasn’t ridden since the Geelong meeting on August 23.
Maskiell has had a fractured career since moving to Victoria two years ago.
He finished equal second behind Luke Nolen in the 2009/10 metropolitan jockeys’ premiership riding 52 city winners but his apprenticeship with Mick Price didn’t last.
He later joined trainer Robert Smerdon but was banished for failing to attend a compulsory seminar on Oaks day before Smerdon gave him a second chance.
Last season Maskiell rode 27 city winners and finished 11th in the premiership while he rode 65 winners statewide.
AAP TURF
