Racing Victoria stressed it “is a level playing field for everyone” following the Melbourne Cup favourite Jan Brueghel being withdrawn from the race by the stewards.

Trainer of St Leger winner Aidan O’Brien marked the decision blasted by local stewards as “ridiculous” when reacting to the news from Del Mar ahead of Monday’s Breeders’ Cup, criticism which came as no shock to Racing Victoria’s executive general manager of integrity Jamie Stier.

“I don’t think the reaction is necessarily surprising,” Stier told Racing.com. “It is always unfortunate to see a horse of such high quality unable to race.

“And that’s disappointing not only for the connections and everyone associated with the horse, but for all the fans out there, all the bettors, but also for us here at RV.”

O’Brien indicated Coolmore’s Australian vets disagreed with Racing Victoria stewards that scans showed his Classic hero was at increased risk of injury.

The unbeaten son of Galileo was to be the Ballydoyle trainer’s first runner in Tuesday’s show at Flemington (4.00 am) for four years, O’Brien felt local veterinary controls were too strict following the death of his Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck in the 2020 race – in which he also cheated on runner-up Tiger Moth.

Stier, who spent eight years working for the BHA, most recently as a regulatory officer, before returning to his native Australia to take up his current role in 2018, said: “We are doing our best to try and bring these horses here. Victory to participate in these races, but we will not sacrifice safety for the sake of having a runner.

“Protocols were put in place to mitigate any risks we could identify with horses going to run in the Melbourne Cup. We are following this process to the end.”

The Willie Mullins-trained Vauban and Absurde passed vet checks for the second consecutive year at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, while Brian Ellison’s Northumberland Plate winner Onesmoothoperator also passed the necessary checks from his Cup success Geelong.

Onesmoothoperator: The European Challenger passed his vet checksCredit: Reg Ryan (Getty Images)

“People have said it’s not possible for European three-year-olds to meet the protocols, but we’ve already seen two European three-year-olds run out of Werribee this year.

“For the Melbourne Cup, every horse, every local horse, has to have a scan. In the past, there have been some adverse findings regarding local horses.

“Now there must be a level playing field for everyone. No one can say that a local horse is treated differently from international horses.”

O’Brien criticized Australian authorities’ use of technology and reliance on phone scans in the process, saying: “horsemen and women have been taken out of the picture”.

However, Stier emphasized that this was not the only factor when making the decision, he said: “Vets don’t make the decision based on video alone.

“If they look at the video sequence and notice a change in a horse’s gait (they will notice it, but) they will always rely primarily on visual observations.

“The same application is used by other PRAs here in Australia and other overseas racing jurisdictions.

“So it’s not something unique to Racing Victoria, it’s something that’s widely used by regulatory vets and it makes sense to do so provided it’s used as it’s intended to be used. I can tell you that our vets use it as it is intended to be. used.”

Lexus Melbourne Cup (4.00 Flemington, November 5)
Coral: 7-2 Buckaroo, 5 Onesmoothoperator, Vauban, 9 Absurde, 11 Land Legend, 14 Kovalica, 20 Interpretation, 25 Okita Soushi, Zardozi, 33 bar.

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Furious Aidan O’Brien hits back at decision to ax Jan Brueghel from Melbourne Cup after controversial vet check

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