Racing Victoria will not compromise on the welfare of horses for the G1 Melbourne Cup after there was plenty of publicity about the scratching of Jan Brueghel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), they announced on Wednesday.
“I don't think the reaction's necessarily surprising,” EGM – Integrity Jamie Stier told racing.com. “When the protocols were implemented, it was understood that not everyone was in agreement and was made known that they were not in agreement. And that is as it is, but the protocols were put in place to mitigate any risks that we were able to identify with horses that were going to run in the Melbourne Cup.
“So we put in place a process, we're following that process through. The last 24 hours, I'd say, it's unfortunate. 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 Racing Victoria.
“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.”
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