Horse racing: Three New Zealand competitors scheduled for Melbourne Cup

Positive sentiment rose to 23rd in the starting order yesterday after one-time favorite Jan Brueghel was banned from competing after failing Racing Victoria’s mandatory veterinary check.

The unbeaten Aidan O’Brien-trained galloper was on the track at Werribee on Tuesday morning doing some light work just hours before the decider.

The internationals competing in the Melbourne Cup completed their pre-race testing last Saturday.

“Reports from an expert panel of internationally renowned equine surgeons and diagnostic imaging specialists who reviewed Jan Brueghel’s CT scan results indicate that the horse is currently at an increased risk of injury,” Racing Victoria said in a statement.

“On the recommendation of RV Veterinary Services in relation to the expert opinions of the independent imaging panel, the RV stewards ordered the withdrawal of Jan Brueghel from the Melbourne Cup on the grounds that he was unfit to compete.”

His absence and doubts over whether sensational Cox Plate winner Via Sistina will start in the Cup has led to chaos in the market, with the market, the build-up and possibly even the Cup result changing depending on what Via Sistina does , can change.

Coach Chris Waller may not even be able to make that decision until Saturday.

Whether she accepts could determine whether a fourth New Zealand galloper in Trust In You reaches the cup field.

Yesterday he finished 25th, one place ahead of the start, and assistant coach Grant Cooksley has confirmed he will still start when he joins the field, with Mark De Plessis as driver.

That may not be known until the field is declared around 7pm on Saturday evening (NZ time).

Four New Zealand-trained horses starting in the Melbourne Cup would be a great reminder of the past when it was easier for New Zealand horses to get a starting place as the Cup was not full of European-trained horses or horses that came from that part of the world were imported into Australian stables.

While it would be a refreshing change to see a sixth of the field made up of New Zealand-trained horses, bookmakers aren’t putting their odds too high, with Positivity the favorite of the quartet at $51.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still at school and began writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald in 1990 as a 20-year-old. In 1995 he became the Herald’s racing editor, covering the world’s largest horse racing carnivals.