Four of the 35 top-ranked horses in the Melbourne Cup entries will be re-examined before acceptance time to determine their fitness.
Racing Victoria veterinarians on Friday completed their inspection of the 35 horses with acceptances for the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field taken at 4.30pm on Saturday.
The horse to be re-tested on Saturday morning are Prize Money (trainer Saeed Bin Suroor), Red Verdon (Ed Dunlop), Lord Fandango (Archie Alexander) and Nakeeta (Iain Jardine).
Red Verdon, who was found to have a bruised heel on Thursday, worked on Friday and passed inspection but will be re-examined as a precaution.
Lord Fandango, who contested Wednesday’s Bendigo Cup, presented with lameness in his right hind leg and needs a further examination.
The RV vets will consider the results of precautionary X-rays on the front fetlocks of both Prize Money and Nakeeta as part of their re-inspections.
The Cup entrants who run in Saturday’s Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington will be re-examined after the race to re-confirm their suitability as acceptors as will Thinkin’ Big following the Victoria Derby (2500m).
Trainer Darren Weir has also confirmed Tosen Basil will not run in the Melbourne Cup.
