Melbourne Cup favourite Jan Brueghel ruled out

Jan Brueghel, the European stayer from the Aidan O’Brien’s stable, has been withdrawn from the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) on November 5 at Flemington.

The long-time Melbourne Cup favourite had to be withdrawn having failed the mandatory vet scan on Saturday, with Coolmore racing manager Tom Magnier telling listeners of SEN Radio on Tuesday morning.

Jan Brueghel, the Group 1 St Leger Stakes winner in September, was given a gallop early on Tuesday morning, with the news of his withdrawal filtering out shortly after.

Prior to that, horse betting sites had the four-year-old as a $5 favourite ahead of Via Sistina and Buckaroo.

The Melbourne Cup and Racing Victoria have some of the toughest protocols in the world, with O’Brien — who has two second-place finishes in the Melbourne Cup — being highly critical of the process in September.

“The Australian people are coming over to check them in the next few days,” O’Brien said at the time.

“They are all getting scanned over the next while and then they check them, but very few horses pass the criteria, especially young horses.

“It’s very difficult for three-year-olds to get through because they are still growing and their bones are still maturing, so I wouldn’t be sure about any of them getting in and being allowed to run.

“It’s ridiculous really.”

Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison is on record defending the Melbourne Cup protocols for internationals earlier this year.

“They are working,” he said.

“It’s a bit tiring sometimes that we continue to get such negative feedback from some protagonists overseas.

“The protocols are working as evidenced by three years without incident. There was a terrible patch for a while that threatened our viability, not just the Cup but everyone.

“The changes and the high standards (we implemented) are working. We make no apology for them. They are based on sound evidence and sound data, and RV went through a solid consultation with people in the industry (to create them).

“We had to do something. They are working and we have no intent to change them.”

Superstar hoop Ryan Moore had been booked to ride Jan Brueghel, and it is unclear if the in-demand jockey will still venture to Flemington for the first Tuesday in November.

Following the withdrawal of Jan Brueghel in Melbourne Cup betting, Caulfield Cup runner-up Buckaroo and Geelong Cup winner Onesmoothoperator are now $5 joint favourites, with Cox Plate victor Via Sistina holding the second line of betting at $6.

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