Leading Melbourne Cup contender Onesmoothoperator gets green light from Racing Victoria vets

Another day, another Melbourne Cup contender ruled out.

US import Mahrajaan has now been added to the list of horses withdrawn from Tuesday’s famous $8 million race.

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Racing Victoria Stewards revealed on Saturday morning that Mahrajaan had failed his vet test and the independent imaging panel believed the horse was at a “heightened risk of injury based on the results of its CT scan”.

Earlier, however, there was better news when top Melbourne Cup contender Onesmoothoperator was cleared to run.

The Geelong Cup winner failed a vet test on Friday and was forced to have another inspection on Saturday (today) after being “re-shod”.

Fortunately, that produced a favourable result with Racing Victoria Stewards declaring that the UK import had “been passed suitable” to race.

Onesmoothoperator — who will have superstar jockey Craig Williams on board for the Cup — had drifted in some markets after sustaining a cut to his right hind heel bulb.

There has also been good news for the Ciaron Maher-trained Interpretation.

The horse failed an inspection on Thursday when vets detected there was a “a change in the horse’s gait”.

However, following another inspection on Friday, Interpretation was given the green the light, but it will wear an Equicast on its left fore foot.

But several horses have already been ruled out, sparking fierce debate around the stringent nature of the vet inspections.

While some trainers have revealed their anger over the results, there has also been a lot of support for the stricter vetting of the animals.

Racing Victoria took action a few years after a spate horse deaths and some public backlash.

Since then, the Cup has been run without a fatal incident.

Victoria is also now considered a world leader in “equine safety”.