EI Affects entries for Melbourne Cup

John Magnier (BBC)Melbourne Cup top weight, Yeats, may miss Australia’s greatest race despite his game win in Saturday’s Gr 1 Irish St Ledger (2800m) at the Curragh. On a day when eight Cup prospects went around in England and Ireland, Yeats was by far the most impressive.

His owner, John Magnier said the outbreak of the Equine Flu, which one Irish newspaper reported this week was costing him as much as $800 000 a day in lost income from stallion fees, could influence his decision. Magnier said the presence of EI in Australia – although not in Victoria – was a “headache” that could deter him from sending any of his team.

Magnier’s other Cup prospects are Scorpion, who finished a gallant second, half a length behind Yeats in the St Leger, and Septimus who scored impressively at Doncaster on Friday.

Yeats is a half brother to Summerhill resident stallion, Solskjaer, whose first foals have our team leaping from their beds in the mornings.