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Melbourne Cup trainer Aidan O'Brien speaks about Anthony Van Dyck's death | Morning Serve

Melbourne Cup trainer Aidan O'Brien has paid tribute to Anthony Van Dyck, who suffered a fatal injury at Tuesday's race at Flemington.

Nic SavageNic Savage
@nic_savage1
less than 2 min read
November 4, 2020 - 8:18AM
Melbourne Cup 2020 horse Anthony Van Dyck dies

Anthony Van Dyck's trainer has paid tribute to the celebrated racehorse, who was euthanised during Tuesday afternoon's Melbourne Cup in Flemington.

Despite being one of the favourites to clinch victory, Anthony Van Dyck went lame on the straight after suffering a fractured fetlock. The horse was loaded into an ambulance before being put down.

The bay stallion is the second horse in three years to die because of an injury sustained in the Melbourne Cup after Cliffs of Moher was euthanised in 2018. Both horses were trained by the same trainer, Aidan O’Brien.

"He was a very kind, sound, lovely-natured horse – incredibly tough and genuine," O'Brien said after Tuesday's race.

"It was very sad to see that happen, it was just very unfortunate. He was a good Derby winner who we'll have fond memories of."

Anthony Van Dyck's jockey Hugh Bowman was uninjured in the incident.

The Victorian Racing Club released a statement offering its condolences to Anthony Van Dyck’s connections.

“We would like to thank the track and veterinary staff for their prompt and humane care of the horse,” the VRC said.

“The club remains totally committed to the welfare of all equine athletes and the ongoing focus on their wellbeing and will continue to work with the industry to understand the cause of this incident.”

Good morning, and welcome to Morning Serve, our coverage of all the sports stories you need to know today.

Updates

Legendary swimming coach dies aged 87

Former Australian swimming head coach Don Talbot has died aged 87.

Talbot trained the national squad throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including the highly-successful Sydney Olympics.

He was anointed as a Swimming Australia Life Member in 2004, and has also coached the Canada and United States national teams.

Swimming Canada posted a tribute to Twitter: “We are sorry to hear about the passing of Don Talbot. We send our thoughts to his family and friends.”

READ MORE: Aussie sporting icon dead

Greene's family tragedy

GWS Giants star Toby Greene has opened up about the passing of cousin Finley in the Dyl and Friends podcast.

Greene's cousin took his own life in 2019, which had a devastating impact on his family.

“Half-way through last year, my cousin, who I sort of grew up with – he lived around the corner, he’s the same age as my younger brother so he’s pretty much like a younger brother to me – took his own life," Greene said.

“He was about to turn 21 that next week.

“It left devastating consequences. No one saw it coming, that was probably the worst part.

“I wish I could have done something. I wish I could have said, ‘come up to Sydney mate, come and hang out for a weekend, let’s talk’.

“There was just no inclination that something like that would happen, which I know rocked a lot of people in my family and still does.”

Greene has started a fundraising team for Movember in memory of Finle, and you can donate here.

Champions League results

A hat-trick for Liverpool's Diogo Jota was the highlight from Wednesday morning's Champions League fixtures.

Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Shakhtar Donetsk 0-6 M'gladbach

Atalanta 0-5 Liverpool

FC Midtjylland 1-2 Ajax

FC Porto 3-0 Marseille

Manchester City 3-0 Olympiakos FC

Real Madrid 3-2 Inter Milan

Red Bull Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich

Ricciardo in a 'strange place'

Former F1 driver Paul di Resta believes Australian star Daniel Ricciardo is in a "strange place" after earning his second podium of the 2020 season.

Ricciardo finished third in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, as Mercedes clinched the Constructors' Championship for a seventh-consecutive year.

Although the 31-year-old has started to unearth some momentum in Renault, he is set to join rival team McLaren in 2021.

“I feel he’s in a strange place because when you’re in Parc Ferme and he’s got those podiums, it’s the start of something that I think was going to go quite far from a leadership point of view for Daniel," di Resta said, according to Fox Sports.

“But of course he’s leaving there and going to McLaren because he thought that was the best chance before the season had started. But Renault are on the up.

“It was an ambitious ask to think they can finish third as a constructor this year, but they’re in a great place to try and achieve it.”

Sky Sports commentator Johnny Herbert said it was a "shame" Ricciardo was leaving the French team at the end of the year.

“They’re on the up, he would have been the perfect man, and his maturity is fantastic," Herbert said.

“It’s a shame that we’re maybe not going to see the same thing next year. I hope McLaren are going to give him the car that he needs, but Renault do look very strong for the future.”

Young gun quits over ‘relentless’ abuse

Australian footballer Josh Hope has quit professional sport, citing abuse from supporters as a primary instigator for the decision.

The 22-year-old shared an emotional post on Instagram, revealing he has suffered anxiety due to "relentless" personal abuse.

“I kept pretty quiet about it for a long time, but I started to see it creep into my day to day life. And at the end of the day it made me not enjoy my football … at all.

“Critics come with all sports and only the strong survive, (so they say) but some of the s**t is relentless.

“I was so over being treated like just a ‘player’. We aren’t just someone you see on the TV screen, we are people no different to anyone else. It didn’t just stop after the final whistle, it’s a constant battle with people who are supposedly meant to be supporting you. Some of the things I would see not only regarding myself but others was nothing less than abuse.”

Hope has made 41 appearances for Melbourne Victory in the A-League since 2016 .

Warner's 'stunning' 12-year feat

Australian cricketer David Warner has rewritten the record books after guiding the Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League finals.

Warner struck an unbeaten 85 not out during Hyderabad's 10-wicket victory over the Mumbai Indians on Tuesday evening, his 58-ball knock including 12 boundaries.

It was his 48th half-century in the IPL.

The 34-year-old has become the only player in IPL history to score 500 runs in six tournaments, trumping Indian superstar Virat Kohli, who has only managed the feat on five occasions.

"I went a little 2009 and opened my front leg to take it on. I took a bit of responsibility at the top of the order, and take it to the bowlers," Warner said after the match.

"It's tough to play orthodox cricket in these conditions, so I have to open up 360 degrees."

The Sunrisers will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday evening in the Eliminator.

'Not ideal': Bennett's Origin issue

Ahead of Wednesday evening's State of Origin opener at Adelaide Oval, Queensland Maroons coach Wayne Bennett has bemoaned the flu in, fly out transport model.

The Queensland squad will travel to Adelaide from their Gold Coast base on Wednesday, and fly back in the hours after the final siren.

"You'd prefer not to do that, particularly for an Origin game," Bennett said.

"I mean, these games are so big and you just want everything right but NSW have to do it as well.

"It's just not a case of us having to go, which would be a little bit different to what it was in the playoffs.

"We're all on the plane, we've all got to travel tomorrow, so it kind of equalises out but I just think the games are, as I said, such quality and you want them to be at their best.

"You need to do everything in their preparation as best you possibly can.

"Flying on the day is not the ideal preparation."

Castle set for new role in NZ

Six months after he stepped down as chief executive of Rugby Australia, Raelene Castle is set to be named in one of New Zealand's top sports administration roles.

Raelene will reportedly replace Sport New Zealand chief executive Peter Miskimmin, who in August announced he would leave the organisation.

The 49-year-old beat long-time sports administration insider and former Olympian Katie Sadleir for the position, according to reports.

Castle could therefore become Sport NZ’s first female chief executive.

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