A VICTORIAN trainer is one of a number of thoroughbred racing figures being investigated over the suspected use of peptides in their horses, including the anti-obesity drug given to some Essendon players.

IN an EXCLUSIVE in the MELBOURNE AGE, NICK MCKENZIE and RICHARD BAKER reveal that Mornington Peninsula trainer Dean Binaisse is one of several figures whose activities were scrutinised during the Australian Crime Commission's doping inquiry comes as racing authorities are moving to detect synthetic peptides in horses to prevent the controversy enveloping the industry.

Mr Binaisse is understood to have sourced AOD9604 or other peptides last year from South Yarra chemist Nima Alavi, who supplied the Bombers with the peptides administered at the club by sports scientist Stephen Dank.

Last November, Australian racing authorities listed synthetic peptides - which include AOD9604 - on the list of substances that may never be used in a horse. It's unclear whether pre-existing catch-all provisions in the rules of racing meant that the use of synthetic peptides prior to November may have also been prohibited.

The anti-obesity drug AOD9604 is not approved by regulators for medical use in humans or animals, although vets and doctors may legally source unapproved peptides for their patients via a compounding chemist.

Early clinical trialling of AOD9604 has suggested that it may help speed the recovery of injured horses, although there is no evidence that it helps build muscle in the same way that banned steroids do.

In a statement to Fairfax Media, Racing Victoria chief executive Bernard Saundry said the industry was aware of the threat from new and emerging drugs. A new research unit was testing for the substances, he said.

"Racing Victoria has been testing for peptides since before the spring racing carnival and we are continuing to refine our testing methodology,'' Mr Saundry said. "As part of our drug-testing strategy, we have frozen samples dating back to 2005 and with that we have the ability to retest samples as intelligence leads us to do.

"Integrity is paramount to the success of our sport and we have a zero tolerance for anyone that wishes to cheat and tarnish the reputations of the vast majority of participants who play by the rules."

Fairfax Media contacted Mr Binaisse on several occasions to comment on the allegation that he used synthetic peptides in his horses, but he refused to comment or issue a denial. Asked if he was prepared to refute the allegation, he said: "I can't comment on anything."

Mr Binaisse, a mid-tier trainer, is among several racing figures - including one very prominent trainer - whose activities have been recently examined by the ACC, police or racing authorities in connection with the use of controversial supplements.

A vet who works for the prominent trainer told Fairfax Media that he had never used synthetic peptides. While racing authorities have strong suspicions about the trainer's practices, drug tests have so far returned no positive results.

Synthetic peptides are very hard to detect in horses. Last month, Racing Victoria's drug testing laboratory contacted the company that makes AOD9604, a firm called Calzada, for assistance in testing for the drug. They have also asked Hong Kong racing authorities for help.

Before Mr Dank became the central figure in the controversy about the use of peptides in AFL and NRL players, he had discussions with Sydney racing officials about improving their testing regime.

After the ACC released its doping report in February, these discussions ceased.

Prior to the release of the crime commission's report in February, Mr Alavi was also involved in discussions with several leading Victorian thoroughbred or greyhound racing stables about using peptides and other supplements in their horses or dogs.

A document written by Mr Alavi and called the ''Compounded Peptide Manual'' was given to racing identities in Sydney and Melbourne in August and September last year as part of a largely unsuccessful sales pitch to sell the drugs to vets and trainers.

The manual lists several of the same synthetic peptides which were allegedly used by players from the NRL team Cronulla in 2011, including Thymosin Beta 4, which is a drug that may boost immunity.

Mr Alavi has declined to respond to questions, but his lawyer, Jack Bock, has stated in a letter that the chemist provided medication for animals whose owners had obtained a prescription from a vet.

Over the past two decades, racing stewards have found it increasingly difficult to ensure their testing regimens are able to detect new drugs.

An added challenge is the suspicion that alleged crime figures are actively attempting to source some of these drugs from chemists or overseas suppliers.

After a long battle in the Victorian County Court earlier this year, Fairfax Media has obtained access to details of a police investigation into three men heavily involved in thoroughbred and greyhound racing and who were charged with drug trafficking in 2010. The men cannot be named as the trial of one of them is continuing.

In secretly taped phone conversations, the men were heard discussing how to dope their animals, a process one of the men described as "hitting up horses".

In one of the discussions, a trainer tells another man that the use of supplements in horses ''wouldn't make … any difference in a short race but in a long race, it makes a difference."

Tapped phone conversations also included references to a Victorian racing identity known as the "professor" who has the ability to make what one barrister described as "some sort of this chemical or material for horses".

Over the past month British trainers have taken aim at Australian racing, where the use of steroids is permitted provided they have left a horse's system when it races.

Peter Moody was forced to declare Black Caviar had never been administered steroids.

The topic of performance enhancing drugs in racing has been placed on the agenda for the upcoming International Federation of Horseracing Authorities Congress in Paris.

STORY SOURCE: SUNDAY AGE – FAIRFAX MEDIA.