Sad, sad, sad.
Cup favourite breaks down
By Christian Nicolussi
August 1, 2006
LEICA Falcon, the early favourite for this year's Melbourne Cup, was yesterday rubbed out of the spring carnival after breaking down.
Some of the heartbroken connections of the Corowa-trained gelding were last night drowning their sorrows at a local pub in Albury after being informed by trainer Richard Freyer the horse had bowed a tendon.
Freyer was last night unavailable for comment with daughter Kylie pointing out her father was too upset to speak.
"He's devastated when any of his horses break down," Kylie said.
Vet Jim Vasey, who will operate on Leica Falcon today - using stem cells to replace the damaged tissue in the tendon - said depending on the recovery, the horse could miss the 2007 Cup.
The shock news forced Michael Eskander's betting house to reshuffle its Cup market with AJC Australian Derby winner Headturner elevated to an outright $8 favourite.
Nominations for the $5.1million race on the first Tuesday in November close today.
Eskander's spokesman Damian Ryan said the John Hawkes-trained Headturner was crunched from $11 into $8, followed by fellow Sydney galloper Eremein, in from $13 to $11; AJC Australian Oaks winner Serenade Rose ($15 to $13); and another Hawkes' runner, Railings ($17 into $15).
"It's a bummer Leica Falcon is out because we laid the second, third and fourth favourites," Ryan said.
"Leica Falcon was definitely the most popular horse with punters, with doubles and as a stand-alone. Headturner now looks the best stayer while Eremein is the best weight-for-age horse."
Leica Falcon thundered home to grab fourth in last year's Cup. Jockey Steven King was expected to make the trek to Wodonga next week to ride the horse in a trial with an option to stick with the gelding throughout the carnival.
Owner Margaret Eaton, the principal of a behavioural school in Albury, said she was holding back the tears from fellow teachers when receiving the news after lunch.
"It was pretty tough trying to hold it together all day," said Eaton, who along with partner Alan bred Leica Falcon.
"I told the teachers at the end of the day what had happened and they all understood.
"We were really looking forward to the Cup this year. I knew if he could avoid injury and get there on the day, he'd be hard to beat. I even bought a dress and new hat for the Cup a few weeks ago while attending a behavioural schools' conference in Terrigal."
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