also taken the executor of the estate, accountant Aaron Ross Randell to court contesting their father's final will. In a separate action sisters Sharon and Anne-Marie were contesting the division of the estate. The judge Supreme Court Justice Francois Kunc ordered that the parties find someone who could act as an intermediary in mediation between the parties. He expected mediation to occur in December/January and the matter was to return to court in February 2017. Mediation was under the control of eminent former appeal court judge Keith Mason, QC with the first meeting was scheduled for 30 November. The mediation over two days failed to resolve the dispute and Judge Philip Hallen ordered that the parties submit any further evidence by 30 January. A hearing was scheduled for 24 February when a date for a hearing was to be set. With the death of Bart's wife in early January 2017 the family "...will put aside all ill-will as the mourn the loss of their mother". No further stories regarding the estate have appeared in the media and the matter may have been settled privately. Secret family controversy In November 2016 two sisters in Adelaide, Kimberley and Julia Mander went public with a claim that Cummings was the father of their father, Peter Mander, from a relationship with their grandmother, Patricia Kilmartin. They allege that the couple were in a relationship for over a year and Patricia fell pregnant in mid-1951. The relationship ended and Lloyd Mander married Patricia and raised Peter as his son. They have engaged a lawyer and have asked for DNA tests for to confirm their story. They have stated that they are not interested in a financial claim on Cummings' estate. Cummings daughter Sharon Robinson has said that she is happy to give a DNA sample and to meet the girls who would be her nieces if Bart Cummings is proved to be their grandfather. References External links Trainer Profile: Bart Cummings at Horse Directory Australia Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame 1927 births 2015 deaths Horse trainers from Melbourne Australian racehorse trainers Australian racehorse owners and breeders Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductees Australian people of Irish descent Australian Roman Catholics People educated at Sacred Heart College, Adelaide