RV defend protocols after O’Brien labels Jan Brueghel decision ‘ridiculous’
Racing Victoria (RV) has stressed that “it is a level playing field for everyone” in the wake of leading European challenger Jan Brueghel (Galileo) being withdrawn from Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
The English St Leger (Gr 1, 1m 6.5f) winner’s trainer Aidan O’Brien branded the decision made by the local stewards as “ridiculous” when reacting to the news from Del Mar, where he is overseeing the preparation of his Breeders’ Cup team, a response which did not come as a shock to RV’s executive general manager of integrity Jamie Stier.
“I don’t think the reaction’s necessarily surprising,” Stier told Racing.com. “It’s always unfortunate to see such a high-quality horse not be able to take their part in the race.
“And that’s disappointing not only for the connections and everyone associated with the horse, but also all the fans out there, all the punters, but also for us here at RV.”
O’Brien had his hopes of winning a first Melbourne Cup dashed when the unbeaten northern hemisphere three-year-old was dramatically ruled out of Tuesday’s Flemington showpiece after failing a vets check.
A statement released on the stewards’ behalf said CT scan results had revealed he is “at heightened risk of injury”.
However, O’Brien, who had refused to have runners at the Melbourne Cup Carnival in recent years due to what he has long felt are overly strict veterinary checks, questioned the decision, saying Coolmore Australia’s vets did not agree with the stewards.
“They made the decision and our vets didn’t agree with that,” Ireland’s perennial champion trainer 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.”
Responding to the uncharacteristic criticism from O’Brien, Sier said: “We go to great lengths to try and get these horses here to Victoria to take part in these races, but we won’t sacrifice safety for the sake of having a runner.
“The protocols were put in place to mitigate any risks that we were able to identify with horses who were going to run in the Melbourne Cup. We’re following that process through.”
Vauban (Galiway) and Absurde (Fastnet Rock), also trained in Ireland, came through the veterinary checks for the second successive year at the Carnival, while British raider
Onesmoothoperator (Dialed In) has also passed the required checks following his Geelong Cup (Gr 3, 2400m) success.
Stier continued: “People have said that it’s not possible for European three-year-olds to meet the protocols, but we’ve already seen two three-year-olds from Europe run out of Werribee this year.
“For the Melbourne Cup, every horse, every local horse, is required to have a scan. In the past, there’s been some adverse findings in relation to local horses.
“Now there has to be a level playing field for everyone. No one can say a local horse is being treated differently to the international horses.”
O’Brien was critical of the Australian authorities’ use of technology and a reliance on phone scans in the process, saying: “the horsemen and women have been taken out of the picture.”
However, Stier stressed this was not the only factor when making the decision. He said: “The vets don’t make their decision solely based on the video. If they look at the succession of videos and they notice a change in the gait of a horse [they’ll note it, but] they’ll always rely primarily on the visual observations.
“The same app is being used by other PRAs here in Australia and other overseas racing jurisdictions.
“So it’s not something that’s unique to Racing Victoria, it’s something that’s widely used by regulatory veterinarians and it’s sensible to do so provided it is used as it’s intended to be used. I can tell you our vets are using it as it’s intended to be used.”
Following the withdrawal of Jan Brueghel and the news that Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) will not attempt to follow up her Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) romp in the Cup, Onesmoothoperator and and Buckaroo (Fastnet Rock) head the betting for Tuesday’s showpiece as $5 chances.
