Trainer Aidan O’Brien is not happy after his Melbourne Cup contender Jan Brueghel was withdrawn from the famous Flemington race by Racing Victoria.

Racing Victoria stewards put a line through the unbeaten Irish stayer — based on “specialist veterinary advice” — in a decision that stunned connections and O’Brien.

“Reports received from an expert panel of internationally renowned equine surgeons and diagnostic imaging specialists, who reviewed Jan Brueghel’s CT scan results, indicate that the horse is currently at heightened risk of injury,” RV said.

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“Following advice from RV Veterinary Services in relation to the specialist opinions from the independent imaging panel, RV Stewards ordered the withdrawal of Jan Brueghel from the Melbourne Cup on the basis that he was unsuitable to compete.”

However, speaking to At The Races, O’Brien said many scans were “an opinion” and he believed his horse had “never moved better” before the decision.

“Everything is perfect. He went through all the hoops, did all the scans,” O’Brien told At The Races.

“And then there was another scan he had to do down there. Our vets looked at them and they said they were fine, but the Australian vets weren’t happy with them.

“Rules are rules. Most scans are a view or an opinion. He did the most rigorous scans he could go through and he went through them. He had another scan the last few days, never trotted better, moved better.

“They’re the rules. That’s their decision.”

O’Brien said his vets “didn’t agree” with the RV advice and took issue with the calling out of “shadows” spotted on his horse..

“They said there was a shadow in front and a shadow behind, but every three-year-old at this time will have shadows and fissures and have this and have that,” he said on Racing Post.

O’Brien, however, knows all about losing Melbourne Cup runners and it was his horse, Anthony Van Dyck, that sparked Racing Victoria’s tougher vet protocols in 2021.

O’Brien’s Cliffsofmoher was also put down on the track after breaking its shoulder in the 2018 Melbourne Cup.

Ryan Moore — who also rode Cliffsofmoher in 2018 — was booked to ride Jan Brueghel in this year’s Melbourne Cup.

“He was a Group 1 horse in a handicap with 8st 7lb (54kg) and Ryan Moore riding him. And he was getting better every week and he only ever won by very little. So that’s the way it is,” O’Brien told Racing Post.