OWNERS of prominent Melbourne Cup fancy Marmelo are set to take legal action after stewards removed the horse from the contest.
Racing Victoria officials deemed the globetrotter to have an incomplete fractureof his near-fore cannonbone and off-hind cannonbone following a standing CT scan.
However, connections are fuming over the results and believe the interpretation of the scan was wrong after the six-year-old worked well under jockey Hugh Bowman on Tuesday.
Trainer Hughie Morrison told the Racing Post: I certainly think our owners should take legal action. Their incorrect scan interpretations have cost us a huge amount of money and effort.
There must be some sort of appeal system otherwise Jamie Stier (Racing Victoria’s head of integrity), Grace Forbes (Racing Victoria’s chief vet) and the stewards are a law unto themselves.
We love this horse so would never put him at risk if we felt there was an issue.We dont accept he has an incomplete fracture he wouldnt be able to walk around the yard, let alone canter like he did this morning, if that was the case.
Part-owner Aziz Kheir said: “I will issue proceedings after I get further advice but my initial advice is I have a damages claim.
“If I win I will donate every cent to charity, including horse welfare.
“This is not about money, it’s about principle and being treated as a serious participant in racing. I don’t want any other owner to go through what we’ve been through.”
However, Racing Victoria has fought back, with their head of integrity strongly supporting his vets’ judgement.
“They carry out responsibilities very seriously.
