First it was Probabeel who came out of the All Star Mile field after he suffered a career ending injury, and now Behemoth has been withdrawn from the race.
A Racing Victoria announcement confirmed the bad news from the David Jolly stable. The announcement reads:
‘The David Jolly stable has informed Racing Victoria (RV) that the 2021 third placegetter has pulled up lame following his below par performance in last Saturday’s Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield and he will now be freshened and undergo a period of recuperation.
‘Behemoth was one of the 10 public voted selections announced by RV on Wednesday for the fourth edition of the world’s richest mile race. The popular South Australian giant amassed 6,222 votes to assume sixth place in the field.
‘Under the conditions of the All-Star Mile, if a horse is withdrawn following the announcement of the top 10 horses it is replaced by the highest ranked horse on the provisional emergency list.
‘The list of provisional emergencies is based on prizemoney (Australian dollars excluding bonuses) earned in races from 1200 metres to 2050 metres from 1 February 2021 until 21 February 2022 in order from highest to lowest among the All-Star Mile nominees not voted into the top 10.
‘The horse sitting atop of that list is the James Cummings-trained Cascadian (GB) whose achievements in the past year include victory in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile and a quartet of Group 1 placings including a narrow third in the Kennedy Cantala last November over the same course and distance as the All-Star Mile.
‘Cummings and owner Godolphin have accepted their position in the All-Star Mile, with C.F. Orr Stakes winner Tofane now assuming the position as the first provisional emergency.’
