Sir Delius could be set for a shock immediate return to racing in Sydney after being sensationally scratched from the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup by Racing Victoria’s stewards.
An independent panel of vets ruled that scans of Sir Delius showed that the 5-year-old “is currently at heightened risk of injury”.
Sir Delius was scanned as part of a compulsory process for the Melbourne Cup. The protocols were introduced as part of a strategy to reduce catastrophic injuries in the race.
His trainers, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott had not spoken publicly on Friday about the decision.
But Bott told Channel Seven’s raceday coverage that Sir Delius could head to Sydney’s 5 Diamonds, held on November 8 over 1800m.
That will be dependent on more vet advice from Waterhouse’s team and any potential restrictions placed by RV stewards.
“We’re still obviously processing the information that’s just been presented to us, obviously that came as a bit of a shock to us all, so I feel for all the owners and connections and everyone involved in that regard, but we’ve just got to process that information, analyse that, see what options are then open to us and what we do with that information,” Bott told Seven’s Bruce McAvaney.
“[Heading to Sydney is] obviously a possibility, you know the horse seems in great order.”
“I know there’s a very suitable race for him up here, for five-year-olds worth a good bit of money, but he holds some nominations there and it’s something you can look at.”
“Obviously everything that we do and every decision that we make is always with the horse’s best interests in mind, so we’ll analyse that information that’s been presented to us.”
Bott said his training partner is obviously upset, with Waterhouse still chasing that elusive Cox Plate.
“She’s obviously upset like everyone, but more so just feels for the owners, you know,” Bott said.
“It felt like it was in their grasp. And they put a lot into the industry. And for everyone, it’s a dream and he looked like the horse that could potentially deliver that for them.”
Adrian Bott joined Bruce following the shock scratching of Sir Delius from the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
The star could be headed to Sydney 👀 pic.twitter.com/oXGdRmTKww
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 18, 2025
