RV Stewards' Report - Vincent Hall

Racing Victoria (RV) Stewards, subsequent to their investigation, have issued a charge against Vincent Hall, as the trainer of ‘Harmonett’ (the Horse), under Australian Rule of Racing (AR) 240(2), which states the following:

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.

The particulars of the charge are summarised as follows:

• On 21 January 2026, the Horse was brought to the Sandown Racecourse and was engaged to race in Race 2, the Brad Masters Plumbing Handicap, over 1000 metres (the Race), finishing first.
• On 21 January 2026, a post-race urine sample was taken from the Horse (the Sample).
• An analysis of the Sample detected the presence of Fexofenadine.
• Fexofenadine is a prohibited substances pursuant to Division 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 (Prohibited list B) of the Australian Rules of Racing.

The presence of Fexofenadine was detected in the Sample by Racing Analytical Services Limited and the Australian Racing Forensics Laboratory.

Fexofenadine is an antihistamine used to relieve the symptoms of hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) and hives (chronic idiopathic urticaria) in humans. It is not registered for use in horses.

The charge issued against Mr Hall will be heard by a Stewards Panel on a date to be fixed.