A “devastated” Aidan O’Brien took a verbal swipe at the Melbourne Cup stewards after Jan Brueghel, one of the favourites for next Tuesday’s race, was scratched by the vets.
O’Brien may have an ongoing love affair with the Breeders’ Cup in America, where a brace of winners this weekend would make him the joint-leading trainer in the history of the fixture, but his relationship with Australia appears to be over.
The 55-year-old trainer has had an uneasy relationship with the Victoria Racing stewards for a number of years now. In 2008 he was called back from the airport to face them after Septimus and two stablemates went clear of the field before fading and the enhanced scanning, which has effectively ruled out Jan Brueghel, was brought in after his Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck was fatally injured in the 2020 race.
However, after Coolmore spent the thick end of £130,000 flying the unbeaten St Leger winner halfway round the world, O’Brien took a swipe at the Australian stewards suggesting that, in his view, it was almost inevitable they would chuck out the colt.
The stewards said that they had withdrawn the three-year-old acting on specialist veterinary advice that his scans “indicate the horse is currently at heightened risk of injury” and that, consequently, the horse was unsuitable to compete.
‘It was devastating news – it was unlucky for us, lucky for them’
In response, O’Brien, speaking from Del Mar, said: “In this part of the world horsemen decide, but in other parts of the world horses trot in front of a phone, the phone videos the trot and the phone tells you whether it’s lame or not.
“It was devastating news. It was unlucky for us, lucky for them. He was a Group One horse in handicap with 8st 7lbs with Ryan Moore riding him and getting better every week.”
When asked if it was the end of his attempts to win the Melbourne Cup he replied: “They made the decision and our vets didn’t agree that there was a shadow in front and a shadow behind.
“Every three-year-old will have shadows and fissures, they’ll have this and that. There comes a point when it becomes ridiculous, horsemen and women are out of the picture.”
A bit like the Grand National, the downside of the Melbourne Cup’s popularity is that it is also a much-scrutinised race and the deaths of six horses in a decade, five of them European trained, have led to more stringent pre-race veterinary checks, including nuclear scanning for international runners before they leave.
City of Troy warm but ready for ‘atrocious’ final tilt at Breeders’ Cup
Meanwhile City of Troy was the warmest of the Ballydoyle contingent on their first morning on the track having done their mandatory 48 hours in quarantine but O’Brien was, nevertheless, happy with him as he faces the last and biggest test of his career in Saturday’s $7million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
He explained that he had nothing against horses that sweat and that he was trying to keep an edge on the Derby winner before Saturday. Reflecting on the colt’s draw in stall No 3 he added that “in was better than out” but conceded it is more a case of how the race unfolds.
“We think we have him prepared to go forward,” he said. “Whether he is quick enough to go forward from that slot, in this type of race? I’m not sure. This is the most atrocious, demanding race for a horse all year.
“We have got a three-year-old running against older horses. He has an awful lot of things to overcome, if we are being realistic about it. We have prepared everything we can do. It’s going to be interesting.”
