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"Overly cautious": Blake furious with Scandinavia's veterinary failure
Connor Scanlon • September 24th, 2025 7:35 pm
Joseph O’Brien’s trained Al Riffa is set to travel overseas to Australia in the coming weeks for the Melbourne Cup.
O’Brien already has two Melbourne Cup victories and he is looking to secure a third with his star stayer.
Kevin Blake, the race planner for Joseph O’Brien, joined SENTrack and RSN’s Giddy Up to discuss how Al Riffa is travelling with his Melbourne Cup preparations, along with Scandinavia’s Melbourne Cup veterinary failure.
Blake started by exclaiming how much of an incredible horse Al Riffa is, stating how it can do unthinkable things.
“He’s been incredible,” Blake emphasised.
“He’s done unprecedented things; he won a National Stakes coming from last to first over seven furlongs as a two-year-old.
“He won the Irish St. Leger a couple of weeks ago. I think that was a career best.
“He’s just a wonderful horse who is getting better with age.”
The Joseph O’Brien racing planner revealed that everything is on track for stallion to make the trip down to Australia.
“He’s on track to come down to your side of the world, everything is awesome from a veterinary point of view,” Blake said.
“The barrier is set very high, but he’s come up to that bar so far so good.
“He’ll have plenty of weight to carry… But what he did in the Leger was really good. He looks to have the right set of tools and we’re all really excited.”
Despite being the equal favourite for the Melbourne Cup at $6 (on Sportsbet) alongside Sir Delius, Blake admitted that it is going to be a very tough challenge for Al Riffa to win the 3200m Cup.
“It’s gonna be really, really tough (to win the Melbourne Cup), but he’s such a classy horse,” Blake admitted.
“We know that the Melbourne Cup can be run at a slightly unusual tempo from a European perspective, but he’s unexposed at the distance and we know he handles real fast ground.
“I think he’s got the right set of tools for the job at hand and Joseph knows what’s required.”
Joseph O’Brien’s father, Aidan, had nominated his star stayer Scandinavia for the Melbourne Cup, however the four-year-old will not feature in the race as he failed his veterinary test.
In 2021, Racing Victoria introduced strict veterinary protocols due to multiple horses dying following the Melbourne Cup, particularly international contenders.
Blake admitted that he understands why the protocols are in place, but believes they are far too cautionary, as he has heard about plenty of international horses who have failed Racing Victoria’s veterinary tests.
“We all get why Racing Victoria are taking such a cautionary approach to the Cup and their marquee races,” Blake said.
“But my view from the day they announced the veterinary protocols, I just felt they went too far.
“We’re still finding it very frustrating.
“The majority of horses that get put forward get knocked back at the very first stage and people don’t tend to hear about them.
“What that says to me is in Europe we either have a bunch of idiot trainers or the approach that has been taken by Racing Victoria is overly cautious.
“Racing Victoria is the only place in the world where these barriers are put up.
“It just doesn’t sit well.
“But these are all my personal thoughts, I’m not speaking for anyone but myself.”
