Japanese stayer Stinger Glass has been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup after Racing Victoria stewards, acting on specialist veterinary advice, ordered his withdrawal on Friday morning.
The Yasuo Tomomichi-trained galloper has also been stood down from the rest of the 2026 Spring Racing Carnival after an independent imaging panel found he was currently at heightened risk of injury, Racing Victoria stewards said.
Stinger Glass is the second horse withdrawn from Tuesday’s $10.2 million race at Flemington by order of the stewards on veterinary advice, after Ciaron Maher’s Saint George was ruled out on Thursday.
How the scans ruled him out
Stinger Glass had an MRI scan in Japan on 26 August, as Racing Victoria’s protocols allow for international horses when a CT scan is not reasonably available. Racing Victoria said Japan does not currently have a standing equine CT scanner.
The independent panel of diagnostic imaging specialists, drawn from the UK, USA and Australia, initially cleared him to continue through the veterinary protocols and travel to Australia. He arrived at the Werribee International Horse Centre on 12 October.
On 27 October he was presented at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre in Werribee for a compulsory CT scan of his distal limbs. The three panel members who reviewed the results advised that he was currently at heightened risk of injury.
Connections were given the chance to have Stinger Glass undergo a PET scan, which he had on Thursday afternoon. After reviewing it overnight alongside the CT images, the panel maintained its view, racing.com reported, and stewards ordered the withdrawal.
Racing Victoria said connections in both Australia and Japan had been told the key information the stewards relied on in making the decision.
Read more: Saint George Out of Melbourne Cup After Failing CT Scan
Vauban and Litzdeel cleared
There was better news for two other Melbourne Cup hopefuls. Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Vauban and Danny O’Brien’s Litzdeel passed follow-up veterinary examinations on Friday morning after being flagged for changes in gait at Thursday’s first inspections, Just Horse Racing reported.
The pair join the 29 horses who passed the initial inspections. Racing Victoria said all 34 horses remaining in the Melbourne Cup entries as of 10am on Friday had presented with a satisfactory scan.
Read more: Melbourne Cup Vet Checks: Defiantly, Vauban Among Five Not Cleared
What’s next
Defiantly, Enfjaar and Wine Dark Sea are due to be re-examined on Saturday morning. Final acceptances close at 4:30pm on Saturday, 31 October, and the 3200m Melbourne Cup will be run at Flemington on Tuesday, 3 November.
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