Another raider scratched in Melbourne Cup drama

Shayne Hope | October 31, 2026

Irish import and expected Melbourne Cup pace-maker Defiantly has failed a vet inspection and been scratched in another major shake-up just three days out from the race that stops a nation.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained stayer had been a long-time favourite that was expected to turn Tuesday’s 3200m feature at Flemington into a gruelling test of stamina.

But the five-year-old was ruled out on Saturday by Racing Victoria stewards, who re-examined three horses after they were not passed fit when inspected 48 hours earlier.

“In the opinion of the veterinarians, Defiantly remains unsuitable to accept for the Melbourne Cup and has been withdrawn from the race by order of the stewards acting on veterinary advice,” RV stewards said in a statement.

“Wine Dark Sea (Harry Charlton) and Enfjaar (Roger Varian) had made appropriate improvement from Thursday’s inspection and in the opinion of the veterinarians are suitable to accept.

“In addition, the veterinarians re-inspected Small Fry (Joseph O’Brien) and in their opinion the horse is no longer suitable to accept for the Melbourne Cup.”

Small Fry was the No.33 horse in the ballot and had been unlikely to gain a Cup start.

Defiantly’s scratching means another O’Brien galloper, Kizlyar, has been elevated into the 24-horse Cup field.

Defiantly is the second international contender ruled out, after Japanese contender Stinger Glass was deemed at heightened risk of injury.

The 24-horse Cup field will be finalised when the barrier draw takes place at Flemington at the conclusion of Saturday’s Derby Day program.

Reigning Cup-winning jockey Jamie Melham has been one of the beneficiaries of the scratchings, with her mount Future History elevated into the field.

The nine-year-old gelding, trained by Gregory Hickman, is a long-shot but gives Melham a chance to create history by becoming the first female hoop to win the Cup in successive years.

“I can dream. I’ll dream about it,” Melham told Nine.

“I won one and that was incredible, but we want to win another one.

“It would be pretty special to win two in a row and be the first female to do that, for sure, so I’ll be trying my best.”

Melham won a historic Melbourne-Caulfield Cups double last year aboard Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Half Yours.

Mark Zahra was the last jockey to win back-to-back Melbourne Cups, steering imports Gold Trip and Without A Fight to victories in 2022-23.