Williams Pulls Out Mourayan From Melbourne Cup Due to Toe Problem
Jockey Lloyd Williams pulled out his race horse Mourayan from the Melbourne Cup at 10 a.m. of Tuesday. He informed Racing Victoria Chairman of Stewards Terry Bailey that Mourayan has toe problems.
Mr Williams said the horse pulled up mildly lame after the MacKinnon Stakes on Saturday which led to a corrective shoeing for Mourayan.
Mr Bailey said the corrective shoeing created another problem in another area for Mourayan, which won the Bart Cummings race in early October and was runner up in the MacKinnnon Stakes.
It was not the first time that Mr Williams had to withdraw a race horse on the morning of the competition. In 2009, a similar thing happened to his horse Efficient. With Mourayan's withdrawal, Mr Williams has lesser chance to snag a fourth Melbourne Cup win after his 1981 victory with Just A Dash, What A Nuisance in 1985 and Efficient in 2007.
The six-year old stallion had a $17 chance at the time of his scratching. With this development, Americain is the $4.50 favourite to win the race and Dunaden and Niwot are the second picks at $8.50.
About 100,000 people are expected to attended the Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington. The train stops every four minutes at the Flanders Street and Southern Cross stations until 12:30 p.m.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast dry and light conditions throughout the day with a 10 per cent chance of a shower.