English stayer Wunderwood's hoof injury and subsequent death in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup exemplifies the profit-driven suffering that's an inherent part of the racing industry - an industry where horrific accidents like those endured by Wunderwood are considered to be “just one of those things”. Injured since arriving in Australia, Wunderwood should have been withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup long before being taken out for his life ending gallop.

ENGLISH stayer Wunderwood's hoof injury is improving slowly and he is still a chance to start in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, according to trainer David Elsworth.

"There is marginal improvement but we are no means out of the woods yet," Elsworth said.

"The foot has been a source of worry, a nightmare in fact, but we soldier on."

Wunderwood began light exercise again at Sandown trackwork yesterday, walking and cantering two laps alongside another English Cup hopeful, Land 'N Stars.

Elsworth has fitted Wunderwood with two bar shoes on his forelegs which are designed to take pressure off the bruised heel.

"We are trying to be optimistic, we are not abandoning ship yet," Elsworth said.

"I wouldn't say it is a no-hoper but I've got to emphasise it is a major problem."

Elsworth intends to give Wunderwood a solid gallop at nearby Mornington this morning.

A little later that day, the Australian Associated Press reported the following:

Wunderwood put down

English Melbourne Cup contender Wunderwood has been put down after a track accident at Mornington racecourse this morning.

Wunderwood was in the early stages of his workout with fellow international Land 'N Stars when he shattered his near fore pastern and could not be saved.

Wunderwood had been battling a hoof injury to the same leg since he arrived in Australia but signs were positive over the past few days that he would be fit for the Cup.

The following day, the mainstream media (ever reluctant to show horseracing in a bad light) were quick to quote Elsworth emphasising that this “freak accident” had nothing to do with his existing injury to the same leg (even though he had described it as a “major problem” just the day before).

The Sydney Morning Herald,  November 03, 2006:

'Wunderwood was 100 per cent'

ENGLISH trainer David Elsworth stressed yesterday that the injury that claimed the life of his Melbourne Cup hope Wunderwood had nothing to do with the hoof problem that had been troubling the horse for the past week.

"I was confident he was over his bruised hoof and this was a completely different injury," Elsworth said.

Elsworth said he did not know what had caused the horse to falter.

"I suppose he could have put his foot in a hole or something."

Elsworth knows the feeling well after the death of his grand campaigner Persian Punch, which collapsed and died in a race at Ascot two years ago as an 11-year-old. Persian Punch ran third in the 1998 and 2001 Melbourne Cups for Elsworth, the best result for any English trainer since the race first attracted northern hemisphere starters in 1993.

Wunderwood is the latest in a long list of casualties among the visiting horses since 1993. In the 1998 Cup, Three Crowns, trained in Singapore by Malcolm Thwaites, broke down badly and was put down on the track.

Would Wunderwood have “put his foot in a hole or something” if he'd actually been given sufficient time to get over his injury? Or, with the Melbourne Cup fast approaching, did the lure of big prizemoney outwiegh any considerations of what would be best for the horse?

Racing Victoria operations manager Leigh Jordan was quoted as saying:

“It's just one of those things that happen.” 

"They've come a long way from overseas. They've spent a lot of money to come here to run in a Melbourne Cup so it's pretty disappointing”

“As a horse trainer those sorts of things happen a lot.”