Sir Delius ruled out of Caulfield and Melbourne Cups
Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) favourite Sir Delius (Frankel) has been ruled out of the race by the Racing Victoria (RV) stewards after failing independent specialist scans.
It comes as the $5 shot was set to warm up for Australia’s biggest race in the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), for which he also headed the betting, next weekend.
Racing Victoria announced on Friday that the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained superstar showed he was currently at heightened risk of injury after undertaking a CT and PET scan.
Bought for a record-breaking 1.3 million guineas at the 2024 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, Sir Delius has thrived since joining Australia from Jean-Claude Rouget in France. He stepped forward from his eighth-place finish in last season’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) to win two Group 1s including at Flemington, the home of the Melbourne Cup, last time.
His absence has led to Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) being promoted to a general $5 favourite for the Melbourne Cup. O’Brien has won the race twice in recent years with Rekindling (High Chaparral) (2017) and Twilight Payment (Teofilo) (2020).
A RV release read: “Having reviewed the PET scan results alongside the CT scan results, the panel members have advised RV Veterinary Services that they remain of the view that Sir Delius is currently at heightened risk of injury.
“Following advice from RV Veterinary Services in relation to the specialist opinions from the imaging panel, RV Stewards have stood down Sir Delius from competing in the remainder of the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival.
“The stewards have appraised the connections of the key information that they relied upon in making their decision.”