‘Ridiculous’: Master trainer vents after stewards take his Cup fancy out of race

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has hit out at Racing Victoria stewards over their decision not to allow Jan Brueghel to run in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, where it was poised to start as one of the favourites.

O’Brien said it was “ridiculous” that stewards ignored those responsible for the horse when they ruled the horse out on Tuesday, a week before the $8 million race.

Horse trainer Aidan O’Brien.Credit: Getty Images

A CT scan conducted on Jan Brueghel at Werribee on Saturday morning was the catalyst for the contentious decision after it revealed a weakness in a lower leg which stewards said would increase the risk of injury if the horse was to run in the Cup.

But O’Brien, who trains predominantly for Coolmore and is in the United States ahead of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, said he was confident Jan Brueghel was ready to perform well in the Cup.

“It was unlucky for us, lucky for them [the other Cup runners],” the trainer said in comments reported by Racing Post.

“He was a group 1 horse in a handicap with 8st 7lb (54 kilograms) and Ryan Moore riding him. And he was getting better every week, and he only ever won by very little. So that’s the way it is.”

Jan Brueghel doing trackwork, ridden by Dean Gallagher, at Werribee earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images

The four-year-old Jan Brueghel was O’Brien’s only potential runner in the race and was among the favourites until it was withdrawn. The lightly raced stayer had four wins from four starts, including the group 1 St Leger Stakes at Doncaster at its most recent start. Moore, a champion jockey, was booked to ride the horse.

O’Brien said Coolmore Australia’s vets did not agree with the Racing Victoria stewards.

“They [the stewards] made the decision and our vets didn’t agree with that,” he said.

“They said there was a shadow in front and a shadow behind, but every three-year-old at this time will have shadows and fissures and have this and have that. There comes a point when it becomes ridiculous, the horsemen and women have been taken out of the picture.”

O’Brien compared the veterinary checks unfavourably to those in place at the Breeders’ Cup and made a clear and barbed dig at the Australian authorities’ use of technology in the process.

He added: “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.”

Racing Victoria stewards outlined the reasons for the decision to disallow Jan Brueghel to enter the Cup in a statement on Tuesday.

“Jan Brueghel was presented at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre in Werribee on Saturday, 26 October for compulsory CT scans of its distal limbs,” the statement said.

“Reports received from an expert panel of internationally renowned equine surgeons and diagnostic imaging specialists, who reviewed Jan Brueghel’s CT scan results, indicate that the horse is currently at heightened risk of injury.

“Following advice from RV Veterinary Services in relation to the specialist opinions from the independent imaging panel, RV stewards ordered the withdrawal of Jan Brueghel from the Melbourne Cup on the basis that he was unsuitable to compete.”

Jan Brueghel passed a series of required tests before leaving Ireland, then arrived in Melbourne a fortnight ago to prepare at Werribee for the race. It was cleared to travel after undergoing an MRI scan in Ireland five weeks ago.

But it was announced on Tuesday the O’Brien-trained galloper failed a follow-up test after a panel of vets from outside Racing Victoria examined the mandatory standing CT scan he underwent at Werribee Equine Centre.

The CT scans used in those tests are slightly different to the MRI technology used in Melbourne, with Racing Victoria protocols stating that: “International horses must undergo a CT of the distal limbs (or MRI where CT is not available) and submit those for assessment before entering pre-export quarantine”.

CT scans can provide a greater level of detail, but there is not a suitable standing CT scanner available for use in Ireland or Japan, meaning horses from those countries have undergone MRI instead of CT scanning before arriving in Australia.

Coolmore’s Tom Magnier told SEN Track on Tuesday the decision to rule the horse out was “gut-wrenching”.

“I think this horse will have a lot of targets in Hong Kong and all over the world,” Magnier said.

All entrants to the Melbourne Cup must undergo testing before being allowed to run, examinations which became more stringent from 2021 onwards after a series of runners broke down or died in the race with O’Brien’s runner Anthony Van Dyck being euthanised after breaking down in the 2020 Melbourne Cup.

That horse was the seventh Cup-related death since 2013 and led to an investigation into why international runners were being injured at a higher rate than local horses during the Spring Carnival. A raft of recommendations, including compulsory MRI scans, were announced in April 2021. There have been no deaths in the Cup since 2021.

Prominent owner Nick Williams said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he felt sorry for Magnier and the Coolmoore team. “They do so much for our industry here and globally, to have the decision on his suitability to race reversed so close to the Cup after investing huge amounts of time and money to travel halfway around the world is disappointing,” Williams wrote.

O’Brien was critical of Racing Victorian testing protocols last month when he revealed he was waiting for vets to test his Cup hopefuls, Illinois and Jan Brueghel.

“They are all getting scanned over the next while and then they check them, but very few horses pass the criteria, especially young horses,” he told Racing Post in September.

“It’s very difficult for three-year-olds to get through because they are still growing and their bones are still maturing, so I wouldn’t be sure about any of them getting in and being allowed to run. It’s ridiculous really.”

O’Brien is not the first trainer to vent frustration at the tests imposed on potential runners. Some owners and international trainers have expressed reluctance to bring horses to the race because of the strict conditions. But prominent Australian trainers, such as Chris Waller, say the moves as necessary to protect the race’s reputation.

In a further blow to the strength of this year’s Melbourne Cup field it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Via Sistina will start.

Jan Brueghel (left) is out of the Melbourne Cup and the odds of Cox Plate winner Via Sistina (right) being a runner are drifting.Credit: Getty

The Cox Plate winner has blown out in the TAB market – from favourite to equal-second favourite – and has “doubtful” posted beside its name.

Her record-breaking win in Saturday’s Cox Plate – where she set a new track record in an eight-length victory – made her favourite for Tuesday’s two-mile handicap, but trainer Chris Waller is wary of asking her to do too much in this preparation.

Waller said the horse’s Cox Plate brilliance was among “100 things” for him to consider before making his call. The variables he is weighing up include: how she recovered; the impact of Saturday’s run; whether she would get another opportunity as good as this to win the race; her body language; whether she would run the trip; her future racing program; the weight; and, the expectations she would carry.

Via Sistina stunned the jam-packed crowd at the Valley with the dominant Cox Plate victory.Credit: Eddie Jim

The trainer said that putting in a career-best performance “does take its toll” on a horse, and it was unrealistic to expect Via Sistina would run at that level again so soon. He said the horse had been in good spirits since the win, bucking and squealing out in the paddock.

“She seems fine, but you never really know until a few more days, and even, in fact, until they run,” Waller said.

“We are just making sure that we’re preserving her to ensure that wasn’t just a one-off run, and she’s got a lot more to come.”

He said he would be watching her body language to ascertain her readiness to run as he discussed her best program with the owners, Yulong Investments, with a visit to Hong Kong among the options.

In 2021, Waller agonised over whether to back up champion mare Verry Elleegant in the Melbourne Cup after she ran third in the Cox Plate, but his decision to run paid off when the horse won.

James McDonald wins the 2021 Melbourne Cup on Verry Elleegant.Credit: Joe Armao

He said that experience would not influence his decision on Via Sistina.

“Every horse is different,” Waller said. “There would be 100 things that we [are] considering.”

Waller also trains Caulfield Cup runner-up and Melbourne Cup fancy Buckaroo, which did track work at Flemington on Tuesday. Waller admitted he was uncertain whether the two-mile journey would suit the Fastnet Rock stallion, but he took confidence from its Caulfield finish.

Waller also has Metropolitan winner Land Legend, who came third in the Caulfield Cup. He said he used lessons from Cups king Bart Cummings to understand how to help it settle.

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