Fancied Melbourne Cup horse Defiantly ruled out by vets
The Joseph O'Brien-trained Defiantly will not run in the Melbourne Cup after failing a vet's inspection. (Getty Images: Vince Caligiuri)
In short:
Another international Melbourne Cup challenger is out of the race, with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Defiantly ruled out by vets.
Enfjaar and Wine Dark Sea passed their final inspections, after Japanese horse Stinger Glass and Australian-trained Saint George failed scans this week.
What's next?
The final field will be declared late this afternoon, ABC's Cup Guide will be up tonight, and there will be a live blog for all 10 races on Cup Day on Tuesday.
One of the leading international challengers for the Melbourne Cup, Defiantly, has been ruled out of the race after failing a vet's inspection on Saturday.
The Joseph O'Brien-trained horse, which had been a long-time favourite for the race, had won the Group Two Prix Kergorlay race over 3,000m at Deauville in France.
Defiantly was in quarantine at Werribee after arriving in Australia, and had failed an initial inspection on Thursday.
The horse was re-examined on Saturday morning.
"In the opinion of the veterinarians, Defiantly remains unsuitable to accept for the Melbourne Cup and has been withdrawn from the race by order of the stewards acting on veterinary advice," Racing Victoria said in a statement.
Defiantly's absence makes it likely that another Joseph O'Brien-trained horse, Kizlyar, will take its place in the field.
Two other international chances in the race, Enfjaar and Wine Dark Sea, had also failed initial assessments, but they passed inspection on Saturday and are approved to accept their spots in Tuesday's race.
Defiantly is the second international ruled out of this year's Melbourne Cup. Japanese entry Stinger Glass was ruled out after CT and PET scans showed the horse was at heightened risk of injury.
The Ciaron Maher-trained Saint George, who was runner-up in the Caulfield Cup a fortnight ago, before coming fifth in the Cox Plate last weekend, was also removed from the race after CT scans showed he was at heightened risk of injury.
The scans and vet inspections are part of veterinary protocols to ensure each horse is suitable to accept a place in the final field.
The field will be finalised at 4:30pm AEDT, followed by the Melbourne Cup draw an hour later.
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