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Melbourne Cup favourite Sir Delius scratched after vet scans / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
Melbourne Cup favourite Sir Delius scratched after vet scans
Melbourne Cup favourite Sir Delius has been ruled out of the "race that stops a nation" after vet scans showed the English galloper at "heightened" risk of injury.
Racing Victoria made the decision after an independent panel of diagnostic imaging specialists reviewed the results.
"RV stewards have stood down Sir Delius from competing in the remainder of the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival," it said in a statement late Friday.
Melbourne Cup organisers introduced stricter vet protocols in 2021 after a spate of horses being euthanised due to injuries sustained in the race.
Prior to the ruling, Sir Delius was the bookmakers' favourite ahead of Al Riffa and Half Yours.
A multiple Group 1 winner, the five-year-old stallion was expected to be ridden by Craig Williams.
A cultural institution in Australia, the Melbourne Cup has been run since 1861 and is considered so important it is a public holiday in its host state of Victoria.
It is always held on the first Tuesday of November.
T.Wisniewski--GL
