Blood-drenched end to Maldivian's big day

Article from: Sunday Herald Sun
October 21, 2007 12:00am

FOR Michael Rodd it was like watching a train wreck unfold.
Rodd, and for that matter, Maldivian, were at ease with the world as the Caulfield Cup runners were being loaded into the gate.
Within a blink, Rodd and Maldivian's Caulfield Cup dreams were covered in blood from a widening wound to his off-side neck.
"I was just looking at it and I couldn't believe what was happening," he said.
"I thought if I put my hand on it (the cut), no one will see it . . . then I thought, 'Well if something goes wrong then it will be worse'.
"It just wasn't meant to be."
A clamp holding a transmitter in Maldivian's stall caused the initial nick to the horse's neck.
Trainer Mark Kavanagh asked chief steward Des Gleeson if the piece of equipment had blood and horse hair on it.
Gleeson confirmed that was case and said an investigation would be immediately launched.
Rodd said he didn't have any warning of what was about to transpire.
He said the last time he felt so good heading into a big race was on Efficient before last year's Victoria Derby.
Although Maldivian had a reputation as being fractious in the stalls, Rodd said the first horse loaded had been content.
"He was standing really nicely and they called the last horses," Rodd said.
"I was sitting off him at the time and I sat back on him. He got a bit restless and set himself off.
"He reared up once and it wasn't so bad -- the barrier attendant was able to bring him back down.
"But then he lunged forward, then ripped his head down and when he came back up that is when he did the damage."
Rodd said he felt sorry for Kavanagh, the staff and the connections of Maldivian.
He said the impact was nowhere near as lasting on him, as he would report for work again today.
"I can't sook about it," he said. "I have to get over it and move on, but it's going to be so much harder for Mark and everyone associated with the horse."
Craig Newitt suffered lacerations to his arms as a result of Eskimo Queen thrashing about after she flipped over in the stalls.
Newitt said the mare was "swapping lefts and rights" as she endeavoured to regain her standing.
"I was lucky that the stalls were locked, otherwise she would have flipped over on top of me," he said.