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Kirklees, Efficient and Zipping out of Melbourne Cup In a surprise announcement, Godolphin's head trainer Saeed bin Suroor said Saturday that KIRKLEES (Jade Robbery) would not be a starter in the A$5.65 million Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1) on Tuesday. Bin Suroor said he did not like the look of Kirklees when he saw the horse after the trainer arrived in Melbourne on Friday. "I'm not happy with how he is," bin Suroor told reporters at Sandown quarantine center early Saturday. "He's not the same horse he was in England. We don't want to take a risk with him. We will take him back to Dubai. He will not be running in the Cup," Bin Suroor confirmed that CRIME SCENE (Royal Applause [GB]) would take Kirklee's place in the field, and would wear blinkers. The Lloyd Williams-owned pair EFFICIENT (Zabeel) and ZIPPING (Danehill) will stay home at Macedon Lodge on Tuesday with the high profile owner ruling both out of the Melbourne Cup. Efficient has been scratched due to a long-term injury to his offside foreleg and Zipping was scratched after being withdrawn at the barriers in Saturday's Mackinnon S. (Aus-G1) when cast. Williams told stewards that Efficient had not responded to ongoing treatment for a recurring leg injury, after saying on Thursday that his stable staff were managing the problem. Victoria Racing Club steward T. Bailey said that Williams told him he was "acting in the best interests of the horse. "Mr. Williams's own vets said the horse could run and run well, but he felt in the best interests of the horse he wasn't prepared to take the risk," Bailey said. "As a result, Mr. Williams told me he would not be accepting with the horse. He said he was simply acting in the best interests of the horse." It's the second successive year that injury has forced Efficient from the Melbourne Cup. Last year, he missed the Cup with an injury to his off-foreleg. Efficient was $8 third favorite with TAB Sportsbet before he dropped out.
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