Ethiopia will undergo extensive veterinary tests after being eased out of Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup with trainer Pat Carey hopeful he can make a full recovery.
The Australian Derby winner finished around 50 lengths behind the second last horse in the Cup after Rhys McLeod eased him down, suspecting something was wrong.
Immediately after the race Ethiopia was found to have a cut above his pelvis and was noticeably sore in his hindquarters.
Carey said he was confident the injuries would not be career threatening.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how he pulls up, give it a couple of days to see what the full extent of the injury is,” Carey told Melbourne RSN Radio on Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t say it’s anything major, but we don’t know the extent of the injury and he’s certainly quite sore in his hindquarter this morning.
“Rhys didn’t feel everything was right with the horse so he took the initiative, and rightfully so, to just ease the horse out of the race and unfortunately (we saw) none of things that you want to see or hear after the race.”
The Cup experience was to get worse for McLeod when stewards suspended him for careless riding in the first part of the race.
The jockey pleaded guilty to shifting in passing the 300m on the first circuit, causing Kelinni to be tightened onto subsequent winner Green Moon who had to be checked.
McLeod will begin his suspension on Saturday and can return on November 19.
