MORE: Admire Rakti, Araldo dead after Cup | Protectionist wins Melbourne Cup | Purton devastated by Admire Rakti death
In a heated aftermath, animal protection groups say the two deaths have exposed the dark side of the racing industry yet again, while on the other side of the fence senior racing figures have called for calm, saying the two accidents were tragic but unavoidable.
With a heated debate brewing, we figured it was high time to present both sides of the argument.
The case against racing
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses was quick to use social media to push their argument in the wake of Admire Rakti's untimely death just after the Cup.
The green tarps are up at Admire Rakti's stall. @TomElliott3AW @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/AixNeOaFY7
— Tom Andronas (@tomandronas) November 4, 2014
“The 'race that stops a nation' is over ... as are the lives of two of its 'athletes',” read the post.
“Today, as the crowds cheered and the champagne flowed, Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti collapsed and died in his stall from a suspected massive heart attack or an internal bleed. Here are his final moments….
“Horses in the racing industry are regularly pushed beyond their physical limits with cruel devices such as the whip, as well as being raced far too young when their bodies are not yet fully developed in 2 year old racing. If they make it out of the industry alive, they are often sent to slaughter when no longer profitable - as there is no industry retirement plan - despite the fact they churn out 15,000 horses year after year.
“If this cruelty does not sit well with you, and you want the racing industry to make improvements for these spectacular animals, take action.”
The case for racing
Senior racing figures like TVN presenter Bruce Clarke have called for calm in the wake of the incidents.
“Everything must be put into perspective,” Clarke told Melbourne radio station SEN on Wednesday.
“It was as good a Melbourne Cup performance as a winner as I’ve seen and it was as big a tragedy on a race track as I’ve seen caused by things which you’ve got no control over.
“The winner was absolutely outstanding in his performance. Aside from the trainer, the (performance of the) jockey should not be lost either in what seems to be a brewing storm of opinion by people who claim to have the interests of horses at heart, when clearly their record on track shows that they don’t.
“Simple fact, they spent $300 on horse welfare last year and more than five figures on billboards and the like,” he claimed.
“To give them any credibility or give them any air ... What happened was a tragedy which you’ve got no control over.
“Why is there not the same hue and cry when four girls get killed on racetracks in the past four years? These are lives of human beings lost in what happens during their day at work, a job which they love doing.
“That’s a human life. Some of these people had children. Obviously all had families. That’s a tragedy. But racing does all it can ... and I’m not just saying this because I’m involved with racing ... just take a deep breath out there. Have a look at the reality not the stereotype and you’ll find that racing does enormous amounts of work to improve its lot.”
Racing Victoria (RV) chief vet Brian Stewart concurred with Clarke’s assessment, saying the medical issue couldn’t have been diagnosed. This came despite vets checking on the horse on Monday evening following some allegedly irregular gambling trends. RV chief steward Terry Bailey said he was confident Admire Rakti had been ‘fit as a fiddle’ heading into the race.
“Yes it was tragic,” declared Stewart on SEN.
“The horse went for a post mortem last night ... the diagnosis is that the horse died of acute heart failure as a result of ventricular fibrillation, probably it was a disorganised heart rhythm that happens very, very rarely in human athletes and in horses and as a consequence of the rapid heart rate during racing.
“Very rare but it does occur.”
Stewart did say protocols would be examined after Araldo was put down on Tuesday night having snapped his cannon bone after being spooked by a child waving a flag in the crowd close by.
“There’ll be a thorough review going on this morning about what can be done to manage that,” Stewart said.
“I guess if nobody wants to take the colour and excitement out of racing but at the same time the safety of horses and people and jockeys has to be a major concern.
“It has been a tradition of the horse returning close to the crowd and obviously something’s going to have to be looked at pretty closely and will be today.”