Another English raider bites the dust in there bid to ride in the Melbourne Cup and this time it is the Andrew balding trained Duretto who it has been found has a stress fracture in his left foreleg and will miss the Group 1 at Flemington racecourse.
Duretto was a general 20/1 shot to win the race and had two listed wins to his name in the way of form, winning at Chester and at Newbury in the St Simon Stakes two years prior.
The six year olds latest run raised hopes for the Balding camp when he finished a good fourth in Caulfield Cup where another English Raider in Best solution went on to win that race for Saeed bin Suroor.
There was tests done on the gelding on Tuesday morning in Australia at University Of Melbourne Equine Centre where they couldn't find any serious issue with the horse. However just 24 hours later it was revealed that there had been an update from the Racing Victoria stewards confirming the whole extent if the problem.
(Credit At The Races) It read: “Racing Victoria (RV) stewards advise that the Andrew Balding-trained Duretto has been ruled out of the Spring Racing Carnival after tests revealed the horse has sustained a stress fracture in his left foreleg.
“Duretto was lame in his left foreleg following a track gallop at the Werribee International Horse Centre (WIHC) on Saturday October 27, and has since had multiple tests conducted to assess whether the horse is in a suitable condition to race.
“After receiving the results of tests conducted today at the University of Melbourne (UoM) Equine Centre, which included nerve blocks and x-rays, Mr Balding took the decision to withdraw Durretto from Tuesday’s 7.3 million dollar Melbourne Cup at Flemington.”
This now leaves around 10 hopeful European raiders left in the Lexus Melbourne Cup on November 6th, where they will be looking to take the title down under for the second consecutive year.