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Thursday’s racing round-up includes the news of a potential international assignment for St Leger winner Jan Brueghel…
Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten St Leger winner Jan Brueghel could be set for a trip to Saudi Arabia after being forced to bypass his potential target in Hong Kong. Coolmore's unexposed stayer travelled to Australia to contest the Melbourne Cup, but he was ruled out of the 'race that stops a nation' by Racing Victoria vets in a pre-race examination. A trip to Hong Kong had been mooted in the immediate aftermath, but Jan Brueghel will not be ready in time. In a post on Coolmore's X feed, O'Brien said: "He had a long journey back from Australia and was restricted to only trotting while over there. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to prepare him properly for Hong Kong so we will revisit his plans. We may aim for a race in Saudi early next year."
Jockey Adam Wedge has been suspended for 14 days and trainer Evan Williams fined £3,000 for "schooling and conditioning a horse on the racecourse" after Klic Boum finished seventh in a 2m maiden hurdle at Warwick today. Having shown little in his three previous outings over hurdles, Klic Boum was sent off a 250/1 chance and finished 36 lengths behind the Olly Murphy-trained winner Castle Ivers. Wedge reported his mount had hung right-handed in the home straight, but the stewards deemed he had failed "to ride his mount in such a way that he could be seen to ask for timely, real and substantial effort to obtain the best possible placing."
Following the results of post-mortem examinations, the BHA revealed there was 'no causal link' between the three horses who died at Cheltenham on Sunday. Investigations into the deaths of Bangers And Cash, Abuffalosoldier and Napper Tandy showed none of the deaths "could have been predicted or prevented" before the meeting. A statement from the BHA read: "All three horses were sent for post-mortem examination and the results have confirmed that both Bangers And Cash and Abuffalosoldier suffered from separate varieties of cardiovascular collapse, which is a form of Exercise Associated Sudden Death (EASD). Napper Tandy fractured a vertebra in his neck following a fall, with no other abnormalities identified. No causal link could be identified and as it stands, none of the fatalities could have been predicted or prevented prior to the race."
Willie Mullins is set to unleash a whole host of his stable stars at Punchestown on Saturday, with State Man and Lossiemouth in line for an intriguing clash in the Grade 1 Unibet Morgiana Hurdle and Ballyburn declared to make his chasing debut earlier on the card. State Man is a general 8/13 chance to defend his Morgiana crown on Saturday, but he will face new competition this time around with stablemate Lossiemouth bidding to stretch her winning sequence to six on her first outing since landing the Grade 1 Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown in May. Last year's emphatic Grade 1 Gallagher Novices' Hurdle winner Ballyburn will face twelve rivals on his chasing debut.