Marmelo May Be Forced Into Early Retirement
Owners of Marmelo are concerned that the stayer may have been forced into early retirement after he was scratched from The Melbourne Cup scratching by Racing Victoria stewards acting on the advice of vets.
Connections maintained there was no issue with Marmelo despite CT scans indicating "an incomplete fracture in the horse’s near fore cannon bone and an incomplete fracture in its off hind cannon bone”.
It led to threats of legal action as the buildup to the Melbourne Cup turned ugly.
Now, part-owner Ozzie Kheir says the decision to withdraw the horse “in a sense might be forcing Marmelo into retirement as he was now concerned other racing jurisdictions might also bar the stayer from competing because of injury fears.
Racing Victoria has done such a good job with the reporting of the injury and getting it out there internationally that it is now making his life very difficult from a racing point of view,” Kheir told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper.
They are giving other racing jurisdictions cause for concern.
The fact is the issue (in the leg) was there two years ago and will be there still in two years.