ChangingOfTheGuard dies

The Age
PATRICK BARTLEY
March 11, 2010

WHAT looked to be the dream of winning a Melbourne Cup with imported galloper Changingoftheguard turned out to be an ongoing nightmare, and the final chapter was played out yesterday when the stayer died during surgery.

Reportedly purchased for $1 million by a Melbourne-based syndicate, Changingoftheguard did not survive a simple gelding operation.

''He suffered a ruptured bowel during the operation and didn't survive. He was put down for humane reasons,'' said trainer David Hayes.

''That has never happened at Lindsay Park before and we've had hundreds, even thousands, done. Sometimes a horse can injure a leg when getting up after an operation, but not this.''

The horse finished second in the Ebor Handicap at York in England, prompting a group of owners in Melbourne to purchase the horse with a view to running in last year's Melbourne Cup.

But from the time Changingoftheguard arrived in Australia, he has been embroiled in a series of controversies, including his dramatic withdrawal hours before the Melbourne Cup.

His withdrawal by stewards acting on veterinary advice was the centre of much debate, with Hayes rejecting claims that the horse had hoof problems.

Changingoftheguard had one run last month, but after finishing down the track the stable reported that the stallion, who was formerly with leading Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien and owned by Kilmore Stud, appeared to have respiratory problems after the race.

Last Tuesday week he beat two of Hayes' four Australian Cup runners, Our Aqaleem and Zagreb, in an impressive gallop at Flemington. ''He coughed after the gallop and I decided to look after him and not run him in the Australian Cup,'' Hayes said.

The stable then elected to geld Changingoftheguard with a view to this year's Melbourne Cup.