{"id":947419,"date":"2026-10-31T09:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947419\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T09:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:28:11","slug":"trainer-nick-ryan-accused-of-having-banned-substance-after-stable-inspection-on-derby-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947419\/","title":{"rendered":"Trainer Nick Ryan accused of having banned substance after stable inspection on Derby Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flemington trainer Nick Ryan had two runners withdrawn from today’s meeting after Racing Victoria (RV) stewards charged him with alleged possession of a prohibited substance.<\/p>\n

Ryan was charged after a stable inspection this morning by RV’s Compliance Assurance Team, which resulted in the forced scratchings of Anglaise (Wakeful Stakes) and Doubt Time (Coolmore Stud Stakes).<\/p>\n

“Mr Ryan was found to have in his possession, in the glove box of his motor vehicle, two syringes of Darbepoetin Alfa which is a prohibited substance under Prohibited List A of the Australian Rules of Racing,” RV stewards reported.<\/p>\n

Ryan, a former champion jockey, reserved his plea and the hearing was adjourned until Monday.<\/p>\n

Zahra overcomes fall to claim first Group 1 of Melbourne Cup Carnival<\/p>\n

Mark Zahra has bounced back from his nasty fall to pilot The Next Episode to a brilliant victory in the stallion-making Coolmore Stud Stakes (1,200m) at Flemington.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Mark Zahra riding The Next Episode wins the Coolmore Stud Stakes. (Getty Images: Vince Caligiuri)<\/p>\n

The Ciaron Maher-trained colt stamped himself as the nation’s premier three-year-old sprinter, finishing a long neck clear of Chris Waller’s St Gotthard in the $2 million Group 1 sprint.<\/p>\n

Mbube was third, with Under Focus fourth.<\/p>\n

Zahra returned to action today just two weeks after a horror Caulfield Cup fall on Half Yours<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His win in the first Group 1 event of this year’s Melbourne Cup carnival comes after his dominant showing with four victories on Victoria Derby day 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

It was Zahra’s third Coolmore Stud Stakes victory and second in as many years after his win aboard Tentyris last year.<\/p>\n

“They’re very similar horses. He’s a real dude now, this horse,” Zahra said.<\/p>\n

“He’s so relaxed, but when you want him he just goes ‘bang’. It’s great to be on two magnificent colts within two years.”<\/p>\n

Zahra took a week off under doctors’ orders after his Caulfield Cup fall and missed Cox Plate day, but would not be denied another shot at Flemington glory.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“Any other time of year I’m probably having a holiday in Byron or Ibiza, but this time of year you just can’t do it,” Zahra said.<\/p>\n

“I just had to suck it up. It’s been a tough two weeks, but this time of year is what I live for and ride for.<\/p>\n

“Great help by the doctors and with a few Nurofen today we’re bang on song.”<\/p>\n

It was Maher’s first Coolmore Stud Stakes victory. The master trainer paid tribute to close friend Zahra.<\/p>\n

“He’s a super jock, Mark,” Maher said.<\/p>\n

“He had the fall the other day, and to get up and be riding at the top of his game, they’re marvellous, the jocks.<\/p>\n

“Mark’s a great mate and I’m sure we’ll be popping the top off a couple of champagnes tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

Earlier, Waller had success in the first race of the Melbourne Cup carnival, when Damian Lane steered The Roaring Sun to victory in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes.<\/p>\n

Waller had the quinella with Unhinged, ridden by James McDonald, finishing second ahead of Conquer The World in third.<\/p>\n

It is the sixth time Waller has won the traditional carnival opener, and third in succession after triumphs by Aeliana (2024) and Panova (2025).<\/p>\n

Waller also claimed the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes with De Armas, ridden by Blake Shinn.<\/p>\n

J-Mac, Waller combine for Victoria Derby win<\/p>\n

James “J-Mac” McDonald and Waller combined for another major victory as Stormy Marco surged home to claim the $3 million Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington.<\/p>\n

The three-year-old colt charged to the lead in the straight and raced away from second-placed Cold Shower for a stunning victory under McDonald in Australia’s oldest classic.<\/p>\n

Quick Finish was third as the first filly in the race since 1990, with Murshidi fourth.<\/p>\n

It was a fourth Derby triumph for Waller and second for McDonald.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flemington trainer Nick Ryan had two runners withdrawn from today’s meeting after Racing Victoria (RV) stewards charged him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,113592,151020,514943,195003,588,85,514942],"class_list":["post-947419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-flemington","tag-mark-zahra","tag-melbourne-cup-carnival","tag-nick-ryan","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-the-next-episode"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}