The announcement that Jan Brueghel was ruled out of the 2024 Melbourne Cup having failed a pre-race veterinary check in Australia inevitably sparked plenty of debate.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt was installed as the ante-post favourite in the Melbourne Cup online betting after winning the English St Leger at Doncaster in September.
That result extended the three-year-old’s unbeaten run to four and had O’Brien dreaming about winning ‘race that stops the nation’ for the first time.
However, Racing Victoria stewards sparked controversy after withdrawing Jan Brueghel from the entries on the advice of specialist veterinarians.
They claimed the horse’s CT scan results indicated ‘that the horse is currently at heightened risk of injury’ and was ‘unsuitable to compete’.
O’Brien, who is in California to oversee his Breeders’ Cup World Championship contenders, was understandably disgusted with the decision.
“Everything was perfect with him – he went through all the hoops and scans,” O’Brien said. “Our vets were happy, but the Australian vets were not happy with them.
“It’s easy to say now, but we thought he was a massive handicap blot as a classy, unbeaten horse with 8st 7lbs to carry and Ryan Moore riding him.
“We will go for the race in Hong Kong now. Most scans are open to opinion, they gave him another in the last few days and found a shadow on the hind leg, but with all horses you can get shadows.
“Everything was properly done with the horse and it’s all getting a little bit ridiculous.”
While Racing Victoria has been eager to stress that ‘equine welfare’ was the sole reason for Jan Brueghel’s withdrawal, their stance has been widely criticised.
Many people believe the decision is solely rooted in a desire to ensure horses trained in the southern hemisphere have a better chance of winning the race.
The subsequent withdrawals of Australian-trained Brayden Star and Muramasa from the entries after their CT scans suggest the conspiracy theorists may be wide of the mark.
Despite this, research conducted by journalist Emmet Kennedy does not paint a particularly favourable picture for Racing Victoria.
International trainers had started to dominate the Melbourne Cup in recent years – a factor which did not sit well with the home based contingent.
The balance of power began to shift in 2010, when the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained Americain won the 150th edition of the race under jockey Gerald Mosse.
Dunaden (2011), Protectionist (2014), Rekindling (2017), Cross Counter (2018) and Twilight Payment (2020) were other horses trained overseas who subsequently won the race.
Intriguingly, many of the Australian-trained horses which have won the Melbourne Cup during this period initially made their mark in international jurisdictions.
Kennedy believes that Racing Victoria’s decision to withdraw Jan Breughel is simply to protect the interests of trainers who operate in Australia.
He says the Melbourne Cup is gradually drifting away from being a truly global event and thinks overseas trainers may think twice before entering their horses in the race in future.
“Aidan O’Brien is the winning-most trainer in British Classic history, the most decorated trainer at Royal Ascot, and the most successful international trainer in Breeders’ Cup history,” Kennedy said.
“This season alone, he’s won Group 1 races in the UK, Ireland – where he’s champion trainer in both countries – in France, and he’s even sent runners to compete in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
“Despite all this, he will now have no runner in the Melbourne Cup. Why? Because Racing Victoria’s vets decided that they know more about horse health than one of the greatest trainers of all time.
“They think they have more insight into equine welfare than Aidan O’Brien’s world-class team of vets and experts. It’s unbelievable – in the sense that I actually don’t believe it.”
While Kennedy believes that an anti-international agenda is in play with Racing Victoria, broadcaster Tim Carroll thinks the safety measures they have implemented are justified.
“To be fair, although all vet checks should be stringent, I think the VRC are probably more so than most,” Carroll said. “But given what transpired down there few years ago, the radioactive scan aside, I think all measures taken are perfectly understandable.
“Any claim that there is some sort of agenda to remove internationals to lessen competition (or for any other reason) is completely non sensical, and to date hasn’t been backed up with a single shred of evidence.”
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