THE owners of Bauer, runner-up in last month's Melbourne Cup, could wake up this morning to find themselves £367,841 worse off.
That's how much they won, or thought they had won at least, when the Luca Cumani-trained grey was beaten a nose by Viewed at Flemington last month.
Since then, however, local stewards have been conducting an investigation into whether or not Bauer
had received medical treatment that is banned in Australia in the build-up to the race that stops a nation.
Their findings were set to be published in the early hours of this morning and if they go against Bauer and his connections, which seems likely in the light of the evidence available, it looks certain he'll be stripped of his second place and the huge six-figure prize that went with it.
The outcome of the case will revolve around the electro-shockwave treatment Cumani admits Bauer received prior to the Melbourne Cup and exactly when it was administered. In Britain, such treatment is allowed up until race day, but the rules Down Under are different and there, the practice is banned within seven days of the event.
Bauer was treated on the Thursday and the race was run the following Tuesday.
"We had a slight issue with the horse and he (the vet] recommended the treatment," said Cumani. "We were told it was okay and we have to rely on the vet's advice.
"This treatment is widely available in every racing country and it is only banned in England on race day so I wasn't aware there would be an issue. The vet did not alert me to it being a problem and as he was appointed by Racing Victoria to look after our horses, I thought everything was fine.
"I took it for granted that if he recommended it, it would be okay but I probably should have looked at the rules myself and I was not aware this physiotherapy was not allowed."
This side of the world, 'tis the season to be jolly, but from racing's point of view, 'tis also the season when the weather likes to wreak havoc.
Today's jumps cards at Leicester and Market Rasen are under threat although Wincanton anticipates "no problems" with their fixture, a phrase that has occasionally come back to bite those who have uttered it.
In the circumstances, the sensible thing to do would be to nap one of the runners at Great Leighs tonight as the action on the Essex sand should at least be guaranteed to go ahead.
Sensible has never been one of this column's strong points, however, so for the best bet, we'll rely on Moustique de L'Isle, who goes in search of a hat-trick of victories at Market Rasen.
Chris Bealby's eight-year-old likes nothing better than a stiff test of stamina on strength- sapping ground so three-and-a-half miles plus on going that will be verging on heavy reads like the perfect script.
