Melbourne Cup Contender Attacked By Stablemate

To the uninitiated, race horses seem like majestic and regal beasts. Some of them are but anyone that has spent any time around them can tell you that’s not always the case. Horses can be aggressive, high strung and moody animals capable of delivering a fierce kick or a nasty bite.

A good reminder of this took place yesterday at the Werribee Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. In a bizarre incident a Japanese shipper and top contender for the Melbourne Cup named Admire Rakti was attacked by his stablemate after a workout. Fortunately, he escaped uninjured but not without a scare.

The incident began as Admire Ratki was entering the quarantine station for international shippers at the race track following a training session. The horse was being walked inside the station along with stablemate Admire Inazuma when the latter horse threw his rider and without warning went after Admire Ratki. Rider Kiyoshi Shikato tried to control Admire Ratki but he was thrown as well. Admire Inazuma tried to bite Admire Ratki who wasn’t provoked into returning the aggression. The two horses were quickly brought under control by track staff and no major injuries were apparent on either thoroughbred. Both riders also escaped without injury and a potentially dangerous situation became just another racing oddity.

Track quarantine manager Ross Kendall downplayed the incident noting: “They live together, they work together and they’ve had a sibling disagreement and had a crack at each other.” Kendall’s nonchalance is probably appropriate for anyone who works around horses but it’s surprising that there aren’t more incidents like this that get reported in the sporting media.

Admire Ratki is the current Melbourne Cup betting favorite. The 7 year old is 11/1 in the most recent odds roundup. The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s biggest horse race and a de facto national holiday throughout the country. The race has been held since 1861 and is known colloquially as ‘the race that stops a nation’. The 2014 Melbourne Cup will be held on November 4 at the Flemington Race Course in Melbourne. The race attracts over 100,000 spectators to the track with millions watching on television throughout Australia and around the world.