'We are a big believer in scanning': Top trainer backs Racing Victoria's policy

This was published 8 months ago


Top Irish trainer Willie Mullins has declared himself firmly behind Racing Victoria's safety push to ensure that no horses with even the slightest concern over their physical condition can run in the spring carnival's great races.

There was a major row in the lead up to this year's Melbourne Cup when Racing Victoria officials scratched the fancied English galloper Marmelo less than a week before the Cup following a CT scan.

Marmelo's owners and trainer, UK-based Hugh Morrison, protested that the scan merely showed up a pre-existing injury which had not hindered the horse in many high class races earlier in his career, including last year's Melbourne Cup, when he ran second to Cross Counter.

But Mullins, who was landing his first ever winner in Australia when True Self won at Flemington on Saturday, said RV had done the right thing given the scrutiny racing now faces not just in Australia but also in the US, where opposition to the sport following fatalities at Santa Anita is growing, and parts of Europe.


''I think it's fantastic. I am amazed ... that most horses hadn't been scanned,'' said Mullins, who has in the past saddled Max Dynamite to run second and third in previous Melbourne Cups.

''We do it all the time at home. Any time we get any sort of an injury. It's quite expensive to do, but here I would imagine it's free.

''We are a big believer in scanning, and if we see a horse that's any bit lame, or we can't find the lameness, we scan them and we rule out everything. ''

He believes that in the current climate it is something racing can't avoid.

''It's the way forward. I think it's the way racing is going to go.

''Racing is going through enough of a trial now in America, you don't want any trouble down here, we don't want trouble in Europe.

''Any day that you can find horses with small injuries that might end up in bigger ones that stop them running (you should) give them time to recuperate. I am all for it

''It's just a simple animal husbandry matter, to look after your animals rather than masking injuries and trying to get horses to run in races.

''You always look at the animal's welfare.

''At home we don't have the conditions that you have out here, but we get plenty of injuries too and we are always ... we would stop earlier rather than try to make a race.

''It's better for the horse if they get more time to recover, and they will come back stronger we find. That's what I believe in.''

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