Two mares have been ruled out of the 2010 Melbourne Cup, with Bart Cummings’ Dariana suffering an injury and the John O’Shea-trained Jessicabeel pulling up lame after her Lexus Stakes failure at Derby Day today.
Redoute’s Choice four-year-old Dariana was 16th on the Melbourne Cup order of entry, and her injury and subsequent withdrawal from the Melbourne Cup field is a blow for legendary trainer Bart Cummings vying for his 13th Melbourne Cup victory next Tuesday.
Jessicabeel was also inside the top 24 Melbourne Cup entries, but after finishing dead last in the Group 3 The Lexus Stakes at Flemington today, connections will not pay the hefty final declaration fee to accept her for the $6 million showdown.
The withdrawal of these two runners paves the way for the likes of 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer and Red Ruler to move up the ballot and into the Melbourne Cup line-up as they were 24th and 25th on the elimination order.
Stay tuned to Races.com.au for more 2010 Melbourne Cup updates and the final field released this afternoon.
In the meantime get the best odds on the Victoria Derby Day races running right now by betting online at Luxbet.
