‘I can’t explain it’: Connections request meeting with stewards after horse scratched from Cup

The shattered connections of stayer Athabascan have asked to meet with stewards after questioning the reasoning their horse was scratched from the Melbourne Cup.

Athabascan was one of five horses pulled from the race in the past eight days, leaving owners disappointed and trainers frustrated.

Athabascan with Horse physio Tom Simpson in Sydney last week ahead of the Melbourne Cup.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Vets scratched the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton-trained French import on the eve of the Cup, finding that it had a cardiac arrhythmia – irregular heartbeat – and was at heightened risk of a cardiac episode if it ran in the $8 million group 1 3200m event at Flemington.

But connections, headed by OTI director Terry Henderson, have asked to have a follow-up meeting with Racing Victoria stewards, claiming the decision was an “interpretation issue” and contrary to their expert advice that showed the horse did not have a problem.

Shattered trainer O’Shea sent a voice message to owners, saying he was “deeply sorry”, but it is “out of my hands”.

“He had an ECG on his gallop on Saturday and the horse was fine,” O’Shea said. “We’ve provided veterinary evidence to stewards that he had a low troponin level, which means that there is no issue with his heart.

“But they have decided irrespective of all the vet advice we have provided to withdraw him.

“I can’t explain it. The horse is 100 per cent health[y] and sound with all our data that we use is particularly good.”

Racing Victoria explained its decision in a statement on Monday night and said ECG reports and the results of blood tests were “forwarded to three independent experts specialising in equine internal medicine, including cardiology.”

“They each independently advised that, due to the nature of the cardiac arrhythmia, Athabascan should undergo further extensive testing before being permitted to race again on the grounds of safety,” the statement said.

“Acting on these opinions and having considered additional material provided by the stable, RV veterinarians advised the Stewards that in their view the horse should be withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup due to an increased risk of a cardiac episode.”

It follows the withdrawal of Aidan O’Brien’s Jan Brueghel, Kiwi entrant Mahrajaan and the Trent Busuttin-Nat Young pair of Brayden Star and Muramasa because they had all failed CT leg scans.

Busuttin and Young released a statement to say they were “perplexed” by the ruling, while O’Brien called the decision-making process “ridiculous”.

“In this part of the world, it’s horsemen who decide. There are other parts of the world where we have had a horse, where the horse trots in front of a phone. The phone videos the trot and the phone tells you whether he is sound or not,” O’Brien told Racing Post.

Racing Victoria maintains that the Melbourne Cup has been run without serious injury since 2021, and makes no apologies for its protocols.

Sydney making scary inroads on the Melbourne Cup week carnival.

Suddenly, New South Wales is fast becoming the preferred destination for international trainers, and it is little wonder considering their superior prizemoney and less stringent vet checks.

There were four overseas runners in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill (1500m) on Saturday, and two of them – Lake Forrest and Lazzat – were first and second past the post.

Cieren Fallon celebrates on Lake Forest in the Golden Eagle.Credit: Getty Images

In comparison, the Melbourne Cup has been whittled back to four internationals this Tuesday, not counting the three Kiwis – a long way from the 11 imports that jumped in 2019.

That number would have been five had Racing Victoria’s strict racing protocols, which include compulsory CT leg scans, not ruled out Aidan O’Brien’s Jan Brueghel last week because it was deemed “heightened risk of injury” if it ran.

It was a finding that O’Brien hotly disputed while he was winning group 1 races at that other big racing carnival at this time of year - the Breeders Cup at Del Mar in Southern California.

Therein lies the dilemma – are we killing international interest in our Cup through kindness?

It is going to take a shift in values. By making the vet checks so intense, to eliminate the risk of another catastrophic death, we might have to revert to type: It is the race that stops a nation, but no longer captures the attention of the world.

Attack of the ex-pats

It used to be that you have to be in it to win it. Now it seems you have to be wealthy to be in it to win it.

There are 11 rehomed internationals in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup field, including race favourite Buckaroo, and each of them will have been bought and sent to Australia at a significant cost. European auctioneers don’t get out of bed for less than half a million.

Incredibly, seven of these runners are trained by giants of the industry Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher, while four of these are part-owned by property developer Ozzie Kheir - Buckaroo, Valiant King, Interpretation and Saint George.

Ozzie Kheir holds the 2021 Melbourne Cup after Verry Elleegant’s victory.Credit: Tash Sorensen

From a winning perspective, it is hard to knock their approach - the past two winners, Without A Fight and Gold Trip, spent a year acclimatising in Australia before winning the Cup. From a traditionalist’s perspective, the days of the underdogs winning are gone.

While Australian-bred stayers continue to battle to hit the mark, at least our jockeys are world-class. Mark Zahra is shooting for his third straight Cup on outsider Circle Of Fire, while Jamie Kah is edging closer to joining Michelle Payne as a Cup winner.

Re-invent the Derby

Flemington’s Derby Day has lost its killer punch.

Apart from the Coolmore Stud Stakes, which tends to be more about creating stallions than creating excitement for racing fans, the one-time jewel in the racing crown has been reduced to a kind of semi-finals day.

Unlike the Cox Plate or the Melbourne Cup, there is no eagerly anticipated build up for the main event.

Even Sydney’s Golden Eagle Day seemed to hurtle towards an attention-grabbing crescendo - an action-packed finale that then provided the added drama of fly-in jockeys Kieren Fallon and Antonio Orani copping one-month suspensions for careless riding.

On top of that, Fallon was slugged with a $100,000 fine - to be deducted from his $262,500 winner’s purse - while Orani was fined $30,000.

One idea is for the Victorian Racing Club needs to re-invent its derby. Slice 500m off the distance, bringing it back to 2000m, and somehow raid the treasury to double the prize money to $4 million.

It could be enough to lure potential stallions, such as Godolphin’s Broadsiding, to the starting blocks.

The courage of Kah

Jamie Kah’s ability to ride on after copping a hefty whack in the nose by a rearing horse on Saturday should not be underestimated.

She was clearly in pain when the Danny O’Brien-trained filly Hurry Curry threw her head back at the barriers in the lead-up to race five and hit the superstar hoop flush in the face.

Not winning by a nose: Jamie Kah’s moment of drama at Flemington.Credit: The Age

She was ruled out of competing in the event, and many would have forgiven the 28-year-old Kah for hanging up the riding boots for the rest of the day.

But she rode on and became the overwhelming story of the day, winning the Victoria Derby for an old mate, Adelaide trainer Andrew Gluyas.

The nose-busting incident happened barely an hour after Kah’s emotion charged victory on Another Wil – a horse owned by her friend, the late Colin McKenna, and trained by Ciaron Maher - and you’d suspect that both moments would have left her feeling drained.

It was tough, inspiring stuff. Now, with a 10-meeting suspension for careless riding starting on Wednesday, the stage is set for Kay to win Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup on the Maher-trained Okita Soushi.

Maher the merrier

Ciaron Maher could well be crowned the new “Cups King” on Tuesday night as he continues his rise and rise from an ex-jumps jockey into a training leviathan.

Maher has realistic winning chances in Interpretation and Okita Soushi.

But what should not be undersold is his ability to turn a couple of seven-year-old mares into winning machines.

Bella Nipotina runs away with the Russell Balding Stakes at Rosehill.Credit: Getty Images

Pride Of Jenni was crowned Australian horse of the year last season after winning three group 1s and the All-Star Mile. Until last year’s spring carnival, she had not even won a group 2.

Bella Nipotina is the other Maher mare to have sprung out of the ground.

Her win in Saturday’s Russell Balding Stakes left the trainer in awe as he watched on from Flemington – one because of the ease in which she creamed her opposition, and two because her $22 million in earnings now ranks her the second-highest prize money winner in Australian history behind the mighty Winx ($26 million).

But, thankfully, it is not all about the cash. Maher’s emotional embrace with Kah after she had won on McKenna-owned Another Wil will remain an enduring image of the 2024 spring.

One El of a deal

Fair play to the often-maligned TAB for injecting extra spice into Saturday afternoon for the 80,000-plus Flemington racegoers.

They used big screens at the track to flash up the juicy starting price of $10 for Victoria Derby favourite El Castello – more than twice its odds. While the maximum bet was capped at $20, it still allowed punters to back the favourite as well as backing another fancy in the race.

It was the biggest promotion the TAB had ever run and a step in the right direction for the Gillon McLachlan led firm, which is the official wagering partner of the VRC.

“El Castello was our biggest hold for the day with around 20 per cent of the market backing the favourite – that’s significant in a big horse field with lots of chances,” a TAB spokesperson said.

There should be more of it, and we are told there will be across the coming week.

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