Changingoftheguard dead after gelding operation mishap

By Mark Ryan

MELBOURNE, March 10 AAP - Changingoftheguard, the horse bought by David Hayes to win a Melbourne Cup, has died.

The four-year-old was having a gelding operation at Lindsay Park on Wednesday afternoon.

"He suffered a ruptured bowel during the operation and didn't survive. He was put down for humane reasons," Hayes said.

"That has never happened at Lindsay Park before and we've had hundreds, even thousands, done."

"Sometimes a horse can injure a leg when getting up after an operation but not this."

Formerly prepared by leading Irish trainer Aiden O'Brien, Hayes purchased Changingoftheguard on behalf of stable clients for around $1 million with the 2010 Melbourne Cup in mind.

He had won two races in Ireland from seven starts and was runner-up in The Ebor (2816m) at York last August, that event being the biggest handicap staying race in Great Britain.

Changingoftheguard was going to run in the 2009 Melbourne Cup but stewards scratched him on race morning, claiming he was lame in a hind leg, which Hayes hotly denied.

The horse had had a foot abscess in the lead up to the Cup.

Hayes was aiming Changingoftheguard for the Australian Cup which was to be run last Saturday but was postponed until this Saturday due to a massive hail storm.

Last Tuesday week he beat two of Hayes four Australian Cup runners, Our Aqaleem and Zagreb, in an impressive gallop at Flemington.

"He coughed after the gallop and I decided to look after him and not run him in the Australian Cup," Hayes said.

Changingoftheguard raced just once in Australia when unplaced in the St George Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield last month.

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