Racing: Hayes devastated by double blow to Melbourne Cup prospects

SYDNEY: Victorian trainer David Hayes has endured one of the worst 12 hours of his career with the sudden deaths of imported stayers Changingoftheguard and Our Aqaleem.

Changingoftheguard suffered a ruptured bowel during a routine gelding operation on Wednesday and could not be saved.

Less than 24 hours after his loss, fellow import Our Aqaleem broke down badly during trackwork and was rushed to the Werribee Equine Centre where he was destroyed on humane grounds.

Our Aqaleem was to have run in the Australian Cup at Flemington today.

A downcast Tony McEvoy, racing manager for Hayes, said the double loss was a big blow to the stable, which had high hopes for the imported stayers in this year's Melbourne Cup.

"They were two separate incidents to two Melbourne Cup horses which David went and sourced. He thought he'd found the right horses for the Melbourne Cup," McEvoy said on Thursday.

"They came out here and he still thought they were the right horses. It has been a terrible 12 hours. We've just got to pick ourselves up and keep going."

Our Aqaleem had a history of problems, which had restricted the 6-year-old's racing career to just six starts.

They included a third to Authorized in the 2007 English Derby and an outstanding win at his only Australian start at Flemington in January when he was resuming after 2 years on the sidelines.

Our Aqaleem was considered Hayes' leading hope in the Australian Cup and was undergoing his final preparations for the 2000m race when he suffered the injury.

"He was doing striding work this morning as his final preparation work for the Australian Cup when [jockey] Steven Arnold heard and felt a noise," McEvoy said.

"The horse was immediately lame and pulled up like he had broken something.

"He was immediately transferred to the Werribee Equine Centre for x-rays which showed he had fractured his shoulder.

"And the decision was made to euthanase him."

Hayes, who won last year's Australian Cup with Niconero, will still have three runners in the feature with McEvoy opting for Extra Zero as the pick.

The 3-year-old will have to overcome the outside barrier in 16, while stablemate Zagreb, third to Niconero 12 months ago, has the rails and Hobart Cup winner Growl barrier four.

"They're all good. It was nice to see Extra Zero back to winning form last start and while he's taking on the older horses he is ideally placed over 2000m," McEvoy said.

"Zagreb is going very well and ran well in the race last year

"And Growl is up in class after disappointing at Launceston but he did run second in a Mackinnon Stakes over the course and distance a few years ago [2006]."

- AAP