In what has turned out to be a very dark day for Australian racing, a second horse has died following the Melbourne Cup, reportedly being put down after vets could not mend his broken leg.
Shortly after today’s race, favourite Admire Rakti collapsed and died in the stalls. Another horse, Araldo, broke his right hind leg on a fence after being surprised by a crowd member waving a flag.
The Age report that Araldo was was taken to the University of Melbourne Veterinary Hospital at Werribee for emergency surgery, but sadly, they were unable to mend his fracures.
Earlier this evening, realising nothing more could be done, Araldo’s owners made the decision to euthanise him humanely. In a statement soon after, trainer Michael Moroney said:
“They’ve run 150 Melbourne Cups and nothing like that has happened before. It’s shattering for my owners, my staff and myself. We have just lost a great young stayer who was lightly raced and had just run seventh in the Cup. My staff are shattered. Everyone here is sticking together. We don’t blame anyone.”
An autopsy will be carried out on Admire Rakti, but stewards say it is likely the horse died of a heart attack.
Earlier this afternoon, the RSPCA put out a statement addressing today’s tragedy, calling into question the cruelty involved in horse racing and demanding a “full and transparent investigation”:
Statement from RSPCA following the death of Admire Rakti post-Melbourne Cup, and the injury to Araldo #newsfeed #live pic.twitter.com/nt5SjmxLGH
— B105 Brisbane (@B105Brisbane) November 4, 2014
Photo: Vince Caliguri via Getty Images
