“I know RV vets have called it, but there was absolutely no disagreement from myself,” Price said.
“That horse was not 100 per cent. Whilst it is disappointing for the owners … the other side of that, you could multiply that disappointment by about 50 if you were to run that horse, see him go no good in the Cox Plate and exasperate a small injury.
Star jockey James McDonald aboard Via Sistina on Tuesday morning.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s the correct decision. I was glad the decision was made. Absolutely the horse should not run.”
Trainer Chris Waller said on Tuesday morning that he was worried that a slowly run Cox Plate could prove the undoing of defending champion Via Sistina.
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“But we’ll ride our own race on Saturday. She’s at her grand final. She needs to make her own luck, make her own sectionals times,” he said.
Leading Saturday’s Cox Plate field around the first bend and towards the back straight might fall to Light Infantry Man or three-year-old Nepotism.
Sir Delius was ruled out of the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup by Racing Victoria stewards, acting on on vets’ advice, after CT scans, and a follow-up PET scan, revealed issues with the horse’s legs.
An independent panel of three vets found that Sir Delius was at “heightened risk of injury” if it continued to race this spring.