Horse dies on track at Flemington days before Melbourne Cup

A photo has emerged that shows a horse “lying lifeless” on a track at Flemington, days before the Melbourne Cup.

A horse collapsed and died on the track at Flemington Racecourse, just days before the Melbourne Cup.

The promising two-year-old horse named Rejuvenate collapsed on the track on Friday, according to the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses.

A Racing Victoria spokesman told News Corp Rejuvenated was euthanised after sustaining a “serious injury” during training.

The cause of injury is yet to be determined, with a post-mortem being conducted at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre.

“The filly was attended to by veterinarians, however she was unable to be saved due to the nature of the injury she sustained. Her rider was cleared of any serious injuries,” the spokesman said.
“RV extends its condolences to the owners of Rejuvenated, trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman, and their stable staff who cared for the horse.”

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses said it was sent a photo of a horse “lying lifeless” on the Melbourne track from an unnamed witness, in a post on social media on Sunday.

The witness, who was watching on from her apartment near the track, said the jockey had come off the horse and was tended to first, eventually walking to an ambulance.

“The horse ran on a little after the jockey had come off then collapsed and didn’t move,” she said.

The woman, who said she was “shaking so much” witnessing the incident, said training continued after the horse was removed from the track.

“I was shocked to see how fast they took his body away.”

An unnamed witness took this photo of Rejuvenate at Flemington. Picture: Facebook/Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses said it had reached out to Racing Victoria to verify the image earlier this week but they did not respond at the time.

Campaign director of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Elio Celotto, said he was “not surprised” when he saw the photo of the collapsed horse.

“We know that a horse is killed on race tracks every two days and incidents like these aren’t necessarily reported, Mr Celotto told news.com.au. “It’s a common occurrence and we’re just glad that somebody was here to witness it and expose it as another death as a result of horse racing.”

An estimated 168 horses have been killed on Australian racetracks in the last racing year, according to the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses.

Six horses have died in the Melbourne Cup over the past decade, a number the Victoria Racing Club takes extremely seriously.

“Equine welfare always has and always will be paramount to the VRC,” a statement on the VRC website reads.

“The safety of the horses, along with all racing participants and racegoers, is our absolute number one priority.

“The VRC and the broader racing community continues to make significant investments in research and technology to advance safety and reductions in injuries in training and races.

“For example, in 2021 we worked in conjunction with Racing Victoria to announce 41 new measures for the Spring Racing Carnival and the Melbourne Cup, including some of the world’s most stringent pre-travel and pre-race veterinary screening processes.

“These have been revised and extended and will continue to be reviewed to ensure that Victoria sets the global bar for safety in horse racing.”