“Had I’d known how difficult it would’ve been to get through all the hoops, I’m not sure we would’ve even went down in the first place,” he said.

“Luckily, we have a great team of people and vets, as well as the team in the office who managed all the logistics, and we managed to get it over the line.

“But really, it was a struggle, and I’d like to think that in the years to come that they’d be reviewing the protocols that they have in place for us each year.”

It comes after Racing Victoria announced its CT scanner at Werribee had suffered a mechanical issue and was temporarily out of action.

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Only 19 of the 35 horses left in the Melbourne Cup acceptances have had their mandatory CT scans ahead of next week’s race, and the remaining 16 horses – including those internationals still in quarantine at Werribee – will instead have to be X-rayed to be passed fit to run.

“Whilst our preference remains to use the technology offered by the standing CT scanner, in its temporary absence we know that the X-rays taken at U-Vet will provide us with improved oversight of the remaining horses, particularly in comparison to previous years, and help to identify any areas that require further examination,” Racing Victoria’s executive general manager of integrity services Jamie Stier said.

“It is noted that all horses will still be required to undergo two veterinary examinations by RV prior to the Melbourne Cup, including an additional examination on the Monday prior to the race, and that the four international runners have all undergone advanced diagnostic imaging since their last start.”

The CT scan had been doing its job prior to the mechanical fault, finding issues with both Young Werther and Harpo Marx in the past week. Both those horses have pulled out of the running for the Melbourne Cup.

There are hopes, however, that the CT scanner could be back up and running by Thursday, the final day for which horses can get their scans.

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