ANIMALS rights activists are up in arms over the unexpected deaths of two horses at the Melbourne Cup and have called for immediate changes within the racing industry to prevent any more unnecessary deaths.
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Recent Caulfield Cup-winning horse Admire Rakti went into the Melbourne Cup as the favourite, but died after collapsing back at the stalls just five minutes after finishing in last place.
Araldo, who placed seventh in the Cup, was euthanased on Tuesday night after breaking his leg.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has orchestrated a campaign over the past few weeks in a bid to raise awareness of an industry "rife with welfare problems".
About 40 of its members protested at Flemington in the aftermath of race seven with one of the members capturing the moment Admire Rakti collapsed in the stalls on video.
"We're very distraught by the news that two horses lost their lives," the group's director Ward Young said.
Mr Young said 129 horses died on Australian race tracks between August last year and July this year - one horse every 2.9 days - and he called for the banning of the whip and two-year-old racing.
"Their joints and muscles aren't fully formed,” he said.
“While not many of them break down as two-year-olds, a lot of them break down in the following year and more than half of those horses who died were raced as two-year-olds.
"We question the racing industry's credentials on horse welfare and safety, we only have to look at jumps racing.
“Horses die in that and they keep allowing that to continue."
The group launched its “Horse Racing Kills Campaign” with a 22-metre billboard in Melbourne with the question: "Is the party really worth it?" accompanying an image of a dead horse
Mr Young said he believed the deaths of both horses would change people's perspectives on the treatment of race horses.
Racing Victoria described the death as "very rare" and has offered condolences to the horse's owner Riichi Kondo and trainer Tomoyuki Umeda.
ACUTE heart failure has been identified as the cause of the death of Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti in the minutes after the race on Tuesday.
Racing Victoria's chief veterinarian Brian Stewart said an autopsy conducted at the University of Melbourne showed that the Japanese stayer, which dropped back through the field in the latter stages of the race, suffered from ventricular fibrillation.
"The diagnosis is that the horse died of acute heart failure as a result of ventricular fibrillation probably, which is a disorganised heart rhythm which happens very, very rarely in human athletes and in horses and is a consequence of the athletic heart and the rapid heart rate during racing," Dr Stewart said.
"It is very rare but it does occur.
"It's a disruption of the normal electrical conduction through the heart and there can be various sets of circumstances that might set it off.
“Athletes are probably more prone to the syndrome especially those with large hearts and a big capacity to raise the heart rate . . . throwing it into this abnormal rhythm and the heart is unable to supply enough blood for the body."
Admire Rakti was one of two horses that died after the Melbourne Cup.
Seventh-placed Araldo was euthanased after breaking its leg when it hit a fence on its way back to its stable after being spooked by a young child waving a flag.
Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey said the results from the full autopsy would be available next week.
He reiterated that all horses for the race were fully vetted by the "best veterinarians" and that the Japanese connections were "still stunned this morning".
Admire Rakti, which won the Caulfield Cup in brilliant style last month, raced near the lead for most of the 3200-metre journey.
As he rounded the final bend, the horse was clearly under pressure and dropped back through the field sharply.
He finished 25 lengths behind the second-last horse.
Admire Rakti carried the hopes of Melbourne Cup punters as the $5.50 favourite.
Terry Bailey said the seven-year-old collapsed and died when he returned to the tie-up stalls after the race.
"It's a shame. We had such a nice, clean-run Melbourne Cup," Bailey said.
There was an overwhelming reaction on social media, with thousands of people tweeting their horror and sadness at Admire Rakti's death.
Apart from the odd racing pundit, very little support was being thrown behind the racing industry.
- From the Sydney Morning Herald