Racing Victoria has stressed that “the playing field is level for everyone” following the pre-post favorite in the Melbourne Cup. Jan Brueghel be removed from the race by the stewards.

Aidan O’Brien, trainer of the St Leger winner marked the decision Local stewards branded the news from Del Mar on Monday in the run-up to the Breeders’ Cup as “ridiculous”, a criticism which came as no shock to Jamie Stier, Racing Victoria’s executive general manager of integrity.

“I don’t think the reaction is necessarily surprising,” Stier told Racing.com. “It’s always a shame to see a horse of such quality not be able to take part in the race.

“And it’s disappointing not only for the relationships and everyone associated with the horse, but also for all the fans, all the punters, but also for us here at RV.”

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

The unbeaten son of Galileo was expected to be the Ballydoyle trainer’s first runner in Tuesday’s Flemington final (4:00 a.m.) for four years, with O’Brien having deemed local veterinary controls too strict following the death of his Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck during the 2020 edition – in which he also saddled runner-up Tiger Moth.

Stier, who spent eight years working for the BHA, most recently as head of regulation, before returning to his native Australia to take up his current role in 2018, said: “We are going to great lengths to try to bring these horses here. Victoria to participate in these races, but we will not sacrifice safety to have a runner.

“The protocols were put in place to mitigate the risks that we were able to identify with the horses that were going to compete in the Melbourne Cup. We are following this process through.”

Willie Mullins-trained duo Vauban and Absurde passed veterinary checks for the second year running at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, while Brian Ellison’s Northumberland Plate winner Onesmoothoperator also passed the required checks since his success at the Geelong Cup.

Onesmoothoperator: the European challenger has passed its veterinary checksCredit: Reg Ryan (Getty Images)

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

“For the Melbourne Cup, every horse, every local horse, has to have a scan. In the past there have been some unfavorable results 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 analytics in the process, saying: “horse riders and women have been left out of the picture.”

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

“If they watch the succession of videos and notice a change in a horse’s gait (they will notice it, but) they will still rely primarily on visual observations.

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

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

Lexus Melbourne Cup (4:00 p.m. 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 criticizes decision to withdraw Jan Brueghel from Melbourne Cup after controversial vet check

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