Racing Victoria

The Joseph O'Brien-trained Valiant King (GB) (Roaring Lion) will not take part in the G1 Melbourne Cup on Nov. 7, and has instead been sent for a spell after suffering a setback, co-owner Ozzie Kheir confirmed on Friday. The grey was most recently sixth in the G1 Caulfield Cup and was found to be lame in his left front leg earlier this week after a Racing Victoria vet inspection. ''After this morning's RV inspections where Valiant King was found to be mildly lame post his work, we had our own...

By Trent Masenhelder, TDNAus/NZ The racing community is in mourning following the tragic news that much-loved jockey Dean Holland passed away on Monday. The 34-year-old was involved in a fall during the opening race at Donald in country Victoria on Monday and died later that day. Holland fell when his mount, the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Headingley (Aus), who was racing in second place, clipped the heels of the leader Kumicho (Aus) as the runners turned for home in Race 1. Fellow jockey Alana Kelly was dislodged from her mount...

Racing Victoria (RV) announced that the core safety standards for horses competing in the Spring Racing Carnival will remain in place in 2023 with a focus on further enhancing administrative processes for their connections. Introduced in 2021, the world leading safety standards are part of Victorian racing's effort to minimise the risk of injuries, particularly among international horses travelling to compete in Victoria and for all horses contesting the Melbourne Cup. The safety standards are reviewed regularly and in determining this year's veterinary protocols, RV conducted a review of their...

The seventh edition of the International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) will be held alongside the 39th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) in Melbourne, Australia from Feb. 14-19, 2023. IFAR and ARC will be hosted by the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) and Racing Victoria. Besides an aftercare facility visit, IFAR will also host panels with speakers from around the world on such topics as new models for industry cooperation; training for success on and off the track; practical tools to screen for temperament and the importance of transition training;...

The Business Programme topics for the 38th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) were announced on Tuesday. Scheduled from Feb. 14-19 and hosted by Racing Victoria in Melbourne, the ARC will offer an expansive range of themes and topics including: the changing racing and wagering landscape of today; engaging with fans amidst evolving consumer habits; the critical role of the owner and their modern needs and expectations; the importance of welfare for racing's athletes and participants; sustainability and climate change; technological disruptors and what they mean for racing and other sports; the...

For the first time, prize-money in Victoria, Australia will be above A$300 million, as the 2022-2023 racing schedule was released on Tuesday by Racing Victoria. The season will feature 554 race meetings beginning on Aug. 1, with total prize-money and bonuses on offer equaling A$314 million. This increase brings the average prize-money and bonuses on offer per race in the state to a nation-leading figure of over A$72,600. Totaling A$26.2 million, the prize-money boost includes more than A$11 million in additional funding for minimum prize-money and over A$7 million of...

International horses flying to Australia for the Melbourne Spring Carnival will no longer be required to take part in a scintigraphy exam prior to flying to Australia, Racing Victoria announced on Wednesday. The stringent scans were started last year in an attempt to reduce the rate of injuries and fatalities. These tests were required to be paid for by the horses' owners, and led to fewer internationals participating at the iconic carnival. Racing Victoria's statement read as follows: "Upon recommendation of the international working group, the RV Board has endorsed...

Seeking a full stop to the spate of high-profile fatalities in the race that stops Australia, Racing Victoria this year tightened the veterinary screws. The practical rollout of these efforts can hardly be described as an unadulterated success, however. One of these new measures was a precautionary CT scan of all runners in the days leading up to the G1 Melbourne Cup--a target that hit the skids when Racing Victoria's new $1.27-million CT unit suffered a malfunction with the Cup field only half scanned, leaving the rest to be X-rayed...

Ismail Mohammed's G1 Goodwood Cup runner-up Away He Goes (Ire) (Farhh {GB}) has been ruled out of the Nov. 2 G1 Melbourne Cup with a tendon injury. The 5-year-old gelding, who is owned by Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, was second to the star stayer Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) in the July 27 Goodwood Cup prior to finishing seventh in the Ebor H. Earlier in the season, he had hit the board in Meydan's G2 Dubai Gold Cup. "To some extent it was good that it was picked up so early but...

Trainer Charlie Fellowes said he fears changes to the qualification criteria, mainly for overseas runners, for the Melbourne Cup will make it "nigh on impossible" for European-trained horses to compete in Australia's most famous race. The Melbourne Cup has come under increased pressure in recent years after a series of high-profile breakdowns in The Race That Stops A Nation, with international challengers seemingly disproportionately afflicted. As such, the number of international horses at the Werribee International Quarantine Centre will be limited to 24 (it was 42 in 2018). International shippers...

Following on from Friday's news that Racing NSW would place a freeze on prizemoney won by Phoenix Thoroughbreds horses until money laundering allegations are resolved in the U.S., Racing Victoria has followed suit. Phoenix Founder Amer Abdulaziz was named in a U.S. federal court trial in November 2019 as allegedly being involved in a money laundering operation and as having stolen €100-million from OneCoin, a sham cryptocurrency he purportedly helped to run. Abdulaziz and Phoenix Thoroughbreds have denied the allegations. A spokesperson for Racing Victoria told TDN AusNZ, "While these...

Australian runners trained by Aidan and his son Joseph O'Brien have undergone tests by Racing Victoria to see if they came back positive for the synthetic substance Zilpaterol, which had been found in contaminated GAIN feed. Both O'Briens and Aidan's other son Donnacha were forced to scratch all of their runners on Arc Sunday after they tested positive for the substance. The O'Briens' 10 horses arrived in Melbourne on Friday night and are under quarantine for two weeks at the International Horse Centre in Werribee. A statement by Racing Victoria...