Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance is unlikely to race again after fracturing his off fore leg when he finished fourth to Assign in the Group 2 $400,000 Ladbrokes Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
Prince Of Penzance with Michelle Payne in the saddle, above, winning the 2015 Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Prince Of Penzance went straight to the Ballarat Veterinary Practice from Caulfield and will undergo surgery today to insert three screws into his fractured leg to help him with his recovery.
The Darren Weir trained Prince Of Penzance caused a major upset when he won the 2015 Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington at $101 with Michelle Payne in the saddle with Payne creating history as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.
Senior part owner Sandy McGregor was very sad to see Prince Of Penzance pull up lame after the Herbert Power Stakes but is hoping he comes through the operation okay suggesting he will be officially retired when he recovers.
“I would suggest that the overwhelming likelihood is that he’ll be retired,” McGregor told racing.com.
“The soundness and happiness of the horse is paramount to us.
“By the time he recovers and is fit again he’s going to be eight-years-old so I highly doubt that he’ll race again.”
“He’s done his job so the main thing is that he has a long and happy life.”
Weir was preparing Prince Of Penzance to defend his Melbourne Cup crown but McGregor said that the seven year old would have been facing a tough task to win back to back Cups with 56.5kg on his back.
“I reckon that he was probably going to peak this year and this season would have been his best but whether he would have been able to win the Cup again with 56.5kg I doubt but we’ll never know now,” McGregor said.
Payne had been replaced as Prince Of Penzance’s rider during his Spring campaign after it took longer than expected for her to recover from serious injuries she received in a fall at Mildura in May but she one of the favourite to look after the Melbourne Cup winner in his retirement.
Payne along with Weir’s employee Maddie Raymond who looked after Prince Of Penzance when he was at the trainer’s Warrnambool stables are both in line to care for him in retirement.
“The best option is to give him to the people that have looked after him the best and that is Michelle and Maddie, so they might have to sort it out between themselves and they might even want to share him,” McGregor said.
Prince Of Penzance had seven wins, seven seconds and two thirds from twenty-nine starts and earned $4,459,190 in prizemoney.
