Update: #6 Rediener (3) has also been scratched from The Golden Eagle field with Chris Waller’s Epsom winner suffering swelling to the near hindleg with associated lameness.
The fifth edition of the $10 million The Golden Eagle (1500m) will run under capacity with the Mitchell Freedman-trained Toorak Handicap winner Attrition officially withdrawn on Thursday morning.
2023 Toorak Handicap winner Attrition will miss Saturday’s $10 million The Golden Eagle race due to injury. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Freedman informed stewards his Churchill entire was suffering from swelling in the right hock, accompanied by lameness.
Racing NSW stewards subsequently accepted the stable’s request to scratch the horse from the set weights feature at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Freedman became aware of the issue after riding Attrition in trackwork with the horse showing signs of discomfort.
Racing NSW Chief Vet, Dr. Peter Curl, confirmed the horse unfit to run after consulting with Freedman and the team’s stable veterinarian.
Racing NSW Stewards have this morning approved the withdrawal of ATTRITION from the Golden Eagle at Rosehill on Sat. Trainer Mitch Freedman notified Stewards that Attritionwas found to have swelling to the right hock with some associated lameness in that leg. He further advised…
— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) November 1, 2023
Attrition was rated around $27 in Golden Eagle betting markets at the time of his withdrawal and was drawn out wide in gate 19.
“He has just got a curbed hock, whether it’s work-related or trauma-related we’re not really sure, but he is just a little uncomfortable in his action, so he’s not up to racing,” Freedman told Racing.com.
“I don’t think we need to be patching him up, he has done his job and has a lot of good racing ahead of him, so a good time to head to the paddock and look to the autumn.”
Beau Mertens, who broke his Group 1 maiden with an emotional win on Attrition in the Toorak Handicap, was to have ridden the horse again in the Golden Eagle.
It has been a week of ups and downs for the 26-year-old who has also picked up a ride in next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup field aboard Chris Waller‘s 300-1 outsider Magical Lagoon.
Ciaron Maher & David Eustace‘s $2 million The Invitation runner-up last weekend, Ruthless Dame, jumps from the outside alley the The Golden Eagle now coming in from barrier 20 to 19.
The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained The Everest graduate, Hawaii Five Oh, is the current $4.20 favourite through Ladbrokes.com.au.
Group 1 winning mare Amelia’s Jewel, drawn well in barrier five, is at $4.60 now the second elect to improve on her ninth in the Toorak from a wide gate.
Click here for the updated Golden Eagle odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au.
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