Mornington-based trainer Matt Laurie is set to confront the Victorian Racing Tribunal over two prohibited substance charges linked to positive swabs for the steroid Trendione.
Racing Victoria stewards leveled three charges against Laurie on Monday, two stemming from positive swabs from racehorses Anahita and Delicious Tycoon, with the third addressing the maintenance of his treatment diary.
Anahita’s positive swab followed her victory at Sandown last June, while Delicious Tycoon’s occurred during an out-of-competition test in August.
Trendione, classified as an anabolic androgenic steroid, remains banned at all times under Australian Racing Rules.
The charges against Laurie will be heard before the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a date yet to be determined.
Charge 1:
AR 240 Prohibited substance in sample taken from horse at race meeting
(2) Subject to subrule (3), if a horse is brought to a racecourse for the purpose of participating in a race and a prohibited substance on Prohibited List A and/or Prohibited List B is detected in a sample taken from the horse prior to or following its running in any race, the trainer and any other person who was in charge of the horse at any relevant time breaches these Australian Rules.
A summary of the particulars of the charge are as follows:
1. On 28 June 2023, Anahita was brought to the Ladbrokes Park Lakeside Racecourse and was engaged to race in Race 4, the ive > Handicap over 1300 metres (the Race).
2. On 28 June 2023, after the Race, a urine sample was taken from Anahita (the Sample).
3. An analysis of the Sample detected the presence of Trendione.
4. Trendione is a prohibited substances pursuant to Division 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 (Prohibited List A) of the Australian Rules of Racing.
The presence of Trendione was detected in the Sample by Racing Analytical Service Limited and confirmed by Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory.
Charge 2:
AR 242 Prohibited substance in sample taken from horse at any time
(a) the trainer and any other person who was in charge of the horse at the relevant time breaches these Australian Rules, unless that trainer or other person satisfies the relevant PRA or the Stewards that he or she took all proper precautions to prevent the administration of the prohibited substance to the horse;
A summary of the particulars of the charge are as follows:
1. On 3 August 2023, an out of competition blood sample was taken from Delicious Tycoon (the Sample).
2. An analysis of the Sample detected the presence of Trendione.
3. Trendione is a prohibited substances pursuant to Division 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 (Prohibited list A) of the Australian Rules of Racing.
The presence of Trendione was detected in the Sample by Racing Analytical Service Limited and confirmed by the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory.
Charge 3:
AR 104(1) Trainers must keep treatment records
(1) A trainer must record any medication or treatment administered to any horse in the trainer’s care by midnight on the day on which the administration was given.
The charges issued against Laurie will be heard before the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a date to be fixed.
