Top trainer could make shock move after his horse was controversially axed from the Melbourne Cup – as Via Sistina is ruled OUT of the race

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien is considering whether to send another horse to the Melbourne Cup after vets dramatically stopped Jan Brueghel from competing in this year’s competition.

The news comes as Cox Plate record-breaker Via Sistina was officially withdrawn from the race that holds off a nation on Wednesday.

The Chris Waller-trained mare set a track record last Saturday by winning the Cox Plate in a performance that led to her becoming the No. 1 horse in the world.

Via Sistina was immediately installed as favorite in the Melbourne Cup, with her odds reduced to $5 despite not being a confirmed starter at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.

‘Via Sistina is officially the number 1 racehorse in the world! The Cox Plate has always been her main goal, to win it is nothing short of a dream,” Yulong said in a statement on X.

“After this top performance and after much consideration, it has been decided that she will not participate in the 2024 Melbourne Cup.”

Via Sistina now focuses on the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on November 9.

Jan Brueghel has been ante-post favorite for the two-mile handicap since extending his impeccable four-race career with a resounding victory in England’s Betfred St Leger race in September.

Via Sistina (pictured winning the Cox Plate last Saturday) has been withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup in a decision that will disappoint many punters

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien (pictured) has said he was ‘stunned’ by the controversial decision to pull his runner Jan Brueghel from the Cup – and he is now deciding whether to send another horse to compete in the Australia’s biggest race

Jockey Ryan Moore was prepared to cross the Pacific Ocean on Saturday evening after the Breeders Cup to make the ride; not only that, he was ready to go down to his lowest weight of 54kg to partner the three-year-old.

But Coolmore’s best laid plans were ruined by Racing Victoria stewards after training in Werribee. Jan Brueghel was scanned on Saturday and O’Brien learned of the decision when he arrived here in Del Mar on Monday evening.

The stewards said the horse was ‘at increased risk of injury’ and would not reconsider their decision. The Melbourne Cup has seen six fatalities in the past decade, including O’Brien’s 2019 Epsom Derby hero Anthony van Dyck.

It cost £130,000 ($A257,000) to ship Jan Brueghel to Australia – his owners will not be reimbursed – and O’Brien was baffled by the decision. This would be his first runner in the Melbourne Cup since 2020 and he may never try to win it again.

“It was absolutely devastating,” O’Brien said. ‘It was bad luck for us, lucky for them. He was a Group 1 horse with a handicap of 8st 7 lbs and Ryan Moore rode him. He got better every week and he won by very little.

‘They made the decision and our vets disagreed. They said there was a shadow in front and a shadow in the back (in his leg bones), but every three year old has shadows and gaps at this time of year.

‘There comes a point when it becomes ridiculous: the riders and women are taken out of the picture. In this part of the world the riders decide. There are other parts of the world where a horse trots in front of a telephone.

‘The phone films the trot and the phone tells you whether he is healthy or not.’

Some bookmakers, including Paddy Power, made the decision to refund ante-post bets on Jan Brueghel, but this was not the way O’Brien expected at the start of the biggest week of his year as pressure mounts in the lead-up to City Of Troy’s quest for immortality.

The owners have decided to rest Via Sistina (pictured after winning the Cox Plate) so she can compete in the Champions Stakes at Flemington on November 9

City Of Troy got his first look at the Del Mar dirt track just after first light yesterday morning and was unusually sweaty as he completed a canter and then a half-speed gallop around the course with O’Brien’s other Breeders Cup runners.

The winner of the Epsom Derby, Coral Eclipse and Juddmonte International was then checked by racecourse officials, as will be the case for the remainder of the week, before competing in the $7 million Classic on Saturday.

He’s the only horse being talked about here, with every trainer who has a runner at the two-day meeting being asked for his opinion on whether City Of Troy can do what no other has done before and win the Classic after conquering Epsom.

“Hopefully we prepared him well,” O’Brien said. ‘He’s from Justify, he gallops like him, he’s open and long, he’s a Derby winner, he’s ticked a lot of boxes but we’re under no illusions.

‘It wouldn’t be a problem with the sweating, it never bothers me. I’d rather have them sweating than not, because it means they’re ready, instead of coming here and floating around.

‘The Classic will be ruthless and he will have to be on his game. If he’s relaxed in any way, you’ll be swept away, so I prefer him to be a little tense. It’s a big difference from any race he’d been in before, where we’d jump and want him to settle down. ‘His canter will increase slightly during the week. I couldn’t be happier with what we saw from him this morning. We think we have done everything we can to ask him to break well, it will be very interesting.”

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