Tragic news as Admire Rakti, the pre-race favourite, has died shortly after finishing last in the Melbourne Cup.
AUSTRALIA'S most glamourous race has been overshadowed by tragedy for the second year in a row after favourite Admire Rakti died post-race and another runner fractured its leg.
So what happens to these horses? Are they pushed too far? And why can't they be saved?
As millions of Australians popped bubbly and celebrated their race winnings — or losses — after the Melbourne Cup this afternoon, Admire Rakti started badly shaking before collapsing and dying in its stalls.
TRAGEDY AT THE MELBOURNE CUP
At the same moment, Araldo, which finished 21st, was left fighting for its life after it shied at a spectator's flag, jumped a fence and fractured a cannon bone — a large bone in the lower leg.
Connections of Japanese-owned Admire Rakti are visibly distressed following the horse's death. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: News Corp Australia
It followed tragedy last year when Verema also shattered her cannon bone during the Race That Stops A Nation and was promptly put behind a green screen and killed on the track.
Gold Coast Equine Centre vet Charlie McCormack said mystery still surrounded the rare circumstances of Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti's presumed heart problem.
He said the horse most likely suffered a rupture of a major blood vessel in the heart or lungs, not a heart attack, during heavy exertion in the 3200m race.
"The fact the horse stopped racing three quarters of the way through but still made it back to the stalls indicates it was probably a ruptured blood vessel. If it was heart attack it probably would have died on the spot," he said.
LAST MINUTES: Zac Purton and Admire Rakti leave the track after finishing last during the Emirates Melbourne Cup. The racehorse died moments later (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
"Heat stress can also affect horses in severe and acute ways.
"Exertion is likely to have played a major part. If it was a heart issue, it is more akin to an elite athlete dropping dead in the middle of a game.
"Usually there is no indication or abnormality ... it is just freakishly bad luck."
An autopsy will be conducted on Admire Rakti to determine the cause of death.
As for Araldo's fractured leg. The odds are not looking good for recovery.
In short, horses are bad patients and just aren't built to recover from fractures.
The high impact and often 'catastrophic' injury when a 500kg horse, racing at 60km h, breaks its leg sends a huge amount of energy through the bone.
Araldo rides toward the Melbourne Cup starting gate and is now fighting for its life. Picture: Sarah Matray Source: News Corp Australia
Mr McCormack said the sheer weight of racehorses means their bones often shatter into irreparable pieces.
Inserting metal plates, commonly used to repair fractures in humans and other animals, was not an option.
"The forces that go through the bones of the horse are huge when it is at full gallop. They are designed to cop that but when it goes wrong, it goes very wrong," he said.
Mr McCormack said the horse needed to be able to bear weight on all four legs to survive.
"The vast majority of horses with broken legs can be saved but they must be able to be up and walking the next day after surgery for it to be viable," he said.
GREEN SCREEN: Verema is euthanised after falling during the 2013 Melbourne Cup. Photo: Jake Nowakowski. Source: News Limited
"You can't amputate a horse's leg, it just won't survive. If it can't bear weight on one front leg for example, the other front leg will collapse. It is just the way they are designed."
Mr McCormack did not know the extent of Araldo's injury but believed it was catastrophic.
He said often insurance companies played a major role in deciding the fate of an injured racehorse.
"If the horse is insured for $15m and is a future breeding stallion, you can be sure the insurance company will make sure all options are exhausted before a horse is put down," he said.
Despite the tragedies, he defended the racing industry, saying the animal's welfare was paramount and 'no trainer has anything to gain from a horse going into a race that is not in peak condition'.
Admire Ratki was in second place down the straight before it dropped back and died after the race. Picture: Mark Stewart Source: News Corp Australia
"I'm an advocate for horse racing. Horses are natural athletes," he said.
"They are naturally-born to run fast — horses in the wild race to the front of the mob.
"The notion that horses are racing in pain or being pushed by all accounts are definitely not true."
Animals Australia has sought to raise awareness about the dark side of racing, saying injuries are often deadly to the animals and most horses bred for the track end up in the slaughterhouse.
"Some 18,000 horses are bred in Australia every year — two thirds of them will never see the track. Every year, thousands of thoroughbreds are sold at auctions for a few hundred dollars apiece, only to be ferried away and 'processed' into pet meat," says Animals Australia.
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