The ‘race that stops a nation’ is over … as are the lives of two of its ‘athletes’.
Today, as the crowds cheered and the champagne flowed, Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti collapsed and died in his stall from a suspected massive heart attack or internal bleeding. Later in the day, another horse Araldo was euthanised after becoming frightened and crashing through a gate, shattering a bone in his leg.
Racing Victoria’s chief vet, Brian Stewart, told Fairfax Media that Admire Rakti died from a heart attack or internal bleeding. He added that such a death would occur in the death of only around 0.0075% of race horses. Here are some best senior feed for horses that you can try out!
“Irregular heartbeat, which progresses to a condition, called ventricular fibrillation, which means the heart beats in a bad rhythm and is similar to a heart attack in simple terms,” Stewart said. “It happens very, very rarely. Ventricular fibrillation of the heart in racehorses can be stress related. Adrenalin plays a roll.”
Ward Young, a spokesman for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, condemned the death. “We are distraught to learn of another horse dying at the Melbourne Cup,” Ward said. “These events are more common then we would like to believe.”
Seventh-placed Araldo became spooked by the rowdy crowd following the race, fracturing a cannon bone. He was taken for surgery but vets were forced to put him down. The horse’s trainer, Michael Moroney, said Araldo was startled by a member of the crowd waving a flag.
“They’ve run 150 Melbourne Cups and nothing like that has happened before,” said Moroney. “It’s shattering for my owners, my staff and myself. We have just lost a great young stayer who was lightly raced and had just run seventh in the Cup. My staff are shattered. Everyone here is sticking together. We don’t blame anyone.”