'I thought he was going': Melbourne Cup hopeful's scary moment on eve of $8.5 million race
Updated . First published at
Onesmoothoperator had a scary moment on the eve of the Lexus Melbourne Cup, with the horse almost falling into the water during training.
The seven-year-old, who took out the Geelong Cup leading into Tuesday's event, was doing some work on the beach when things almost took a drastic turn.
Vision captured by 9News Melbourne saw the gelding seemingly lose its footing, before regaining composure and continuing to walk through the shallow water.
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Onesmoothoperator almost falls into the water. Nine
"I thought he was going then," the horse trackwork jockey said.
"Did you see it? He tripped up."
The overseas import was already in doubt for the Cup after suffering a cut to his right hind heel bulb, but has since been cleared by VRC stewards.
Craig Williams is set to ride Onesmoothoperator, who is rated among the leading chances in the betting market for the Flemington feature.
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The horse arrived in Australia recently and has made a huge impression with a first-up win, trouncing home to take out the Group 3 race over 2400 metres.
Onesmoothoperator will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Media Puzzle, Americain and Dunaden as the only runners to complete the Geelong-Melbourne Cup double.