In a surprise announcement, Godolphin’s head trainer Saeed bin Suroor said
Saturday that KIRKLEES (Jade Robbery) would not be a starter in the A$5.65
million Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1) on Tuesday. Bin Suroor said he did not like the
look of Kirklees when he saw the horse after the trainer arrived in Melbourne on
Friday.
“I’m not happy with how he is,” bin Suroor told reporters at Sandown
quarantine center early Saturday. “He’s not the same horse he was in England. We
don’t want to take a risk with him. We will take him back to Dubai. He will not
be running in the Cup,”
Bin Suroor confirmed that CRIME SCENE (Royal Applause [GB]) would take
Kirklee’s place in the field, and would wear blinkers.
The Lloyd Williams-owned pair EFFICIENT (Zabeel) and ZIPPING (Danehill) will
stay home at Macedon Lodge on Tuesday with the high profile owner ruling both
out of the Melbourne Cup.
Efficient has been scratched due to a long-term injury to his offside foreleg
and Zipping was scratched after being withdrawn at the barriers in Saturday’s
Mackinnon S. (Aus-G1) when cast. Williams told stewards that Efficient had not
responded to ongoing treatment for a recurring leg injury, after saying on
Thursday that his stable staff were managing the problem. Victoria Racing Club
steward T. Bailey said that Williams told him he was “acting in the best
interests of the horse.
“Mr. Williams’s own vets said the horse could run and run well, but he felt
in the best interests of the horse he wasn’t prepared to take the risk,” Bailey
said. “As a result, Mr. Williams told me he would not be accepting with the
horse. He said he was simply acting in the best interests of the horse.”
It’s the second successive year that injury has forced Efficient from the
Melbourne Cup. Last year, he missed the Cup with an injury to his off-foreleg.
Efficient was $8 third favorite with TAB Sportsbet before he dropped out.