Tralee Rose to be monitored after being galloped on in the Cup

Geelong Cup winner Tralee Rose was taken to Werribee Veterinary Hospital after she received a severe laceration to her left hind leg when she was galloped on during the running of the Melbourne Cup, however she escaped serious injury.

Meanwhile, the stable of runner-up Incentivise reported to stewards that the star five-year-old had “displayed a small amount of swelling in his near fore leg upon cooling down”.

The Peter Moody-trained gelding had been examined by the stable vet and will be reassessed this week having just failed to record a 10th consecutive win to take the Cup when Verry Elleegant ran him down.

Tralee Rose will stay overnight at the U-Vet Equine Centre in Werribee as a precaution to ensure she does not incur an infection, before being allowed to return to trainer Symon Wilde’s Warrnambool property.

Tralee Rose suffered a severe laceration to her leg in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.Credit: Nicole Cleary

Racing Victoria vets recommended the horse be taken to Werribee after bandaging during the post-race examination to check for tendon damage.

The five-year-old mare finished ninth in the race, netting $160,000 for the owners, and will be monitored but scans ruled out structural damage.

The lightly raced mare had a perfect preparation leading into the race but her rider Dean Holland was suspended in the aftermath for causing interference 300 metres after the start.

Racing Victoria have introduced stringent checks for all runners before they are cleared to race after a spate of injuries and deaths in recent years.

Tralee Rose had a minor knee operation after running fourth in the Adelaide Cup at her only other run over the Melbourne Cup distance in March this year.

The vet checks led to a field of 23 running in this year’s race as Future Score was scratched on Tuesday morning due to vets’ advice, a decision which owners questioned.

Although most racing participants support the pre-race initiatives, there have been questions raised about whether they are too onerous on the horse, with Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien revealing Cox Plate winner State of Rest was sedated four times in the lead up to the event to ensure he received the necessary medical checks.

This year’s Melbourne Cup also had fewer international runners than previous years, due to COVID-19 restrictions, with many of the previous Cup fatalities being horses that arrived from overseas to race.

Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula questioned the motives of animal welfare activists.

“There are people who pretend to be concerned about horse welfare, but frankly, I think a lot of those people would be disappointed there wasn’t an incident today, because their primary concern is to campaign against the Melbourne Cup,” Pakula told the ABC’s Radio National Drive on Tuesday night.

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