Racing Victoria (RV) Stewards have today issued two charges against licensed trainer Melody Cunningham following their investigation into the circumstances that led to the Mrs Cunningham trained Yankee Toff returning a post-race urine sample containing Heptaminol (a cardiac stimulant) on 26 July 2019.
The presence of Heptaminol was detected in the urine sample by Racing Analytical Services Limited and by the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory.
Mrs Cunningham has been issued the following charges under Australian Rules of Racing:
Charge One: AR240(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.”
The particulars of the charge are summarised as follows:
- On 26 July 2019, Yankee Toff was brought to the Mildura racecourse and ran in the Lime Therapy Benchmark 58 Handicap over 1200 metres (the race).
- A prohibited substance, being Heptaminol, was detected in a post-race urine sample taken from Yankee Toff following the running of the race.
Charge Two: AR104(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 administration was given.”
The particulars of the charge are summarised as follows:
- Mrs Cunningham failed to record the administration of Dynajec (which contains Heptaminol) to Yankee Toff that occurred on or around 23 July 2019 in accordance with the requirements of AR 104.
The charges issued against Mrs Cunningham will be heard before the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a date to be fixed