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Michelle Payne meets the Prince of Wales after her Melbourne Cup triumph. PA Images

History-making Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne tests positive for banned substance

The first female winner of the Melbourne Cup tested positive for an appetite suppressant.

HISTORY-MAKING MELBOURNE Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne has been stood down from riding after testing positive for a banned substance, racing officials said today.

The 31-year old will go in front of an inquiry by Racing Victoria stewards Thursday after Phentermine, an appetite suppressant and banned substance under Australian racing rules, was found in her urine sample at the Swan Hill Cup meeting on 11 June.

“Stewards have received a report from Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) confirming the presence of Phentermine… in the sample provided,” Racing Victoria said in a statement.

“Upon receipt of the report, Ms Payne was advised of RASL’s findings and stood down from riding in races and trackwork by Stewards on 23 June 2017.”

There were fears for Payne’s career after she suffered a torn pancreas in a fall last year, but she returned to the track and finished fifth on the Australian-owned Kaspersky at the Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last week.

Payne, from a family steeped in racing, made international headlines when she became the first woman to win Australia’s 155-year-old Melbourne Cup on Prince of Penzance at Flemington in 2015.

(C) AFP 2017

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