Asterix Melbourne Cup scratched after Penetrene went on his forelegs on race morning

The cream went on in the stable, in front of the security guard, as part of the same daily care Asterix got every morning. It was Penetrene, a liniment rubbed on both forelegs, applied by the person who looked after the horse while an integrity official watched. By 10:33am the eight-year-old gelding was out of the Melbourne Cup.

The Asterix Melbourne Cup scratch came down on a report from Racing Victoria’s Compliance Assurance Team. Stewards took evidence from Chris Waller, his stable staff, the team’s Tim George and the regulator’s veterinarian, Dr Edwina Wilkes, then ordered the withdrawal under Australian Rule of Racing 249(3). Scratchings had closed at 7:30am with all 24 runners in the field, and three hours later there were 23.

Racing Victoria’s own guide to raceday treatment leaves no room around the timing. Any substance given by topical application counts as medication, the guide says, and no medication may be administered before a race on raceday unless the rules state otherwise. Topical preparations, creams, ointments, sprays and powders, need the stewards’ permission, with a narrow exception for antibiotic or antiseptic treatment of minor wounds after a veterinary inspection. The guide also warns that skin absorbs what is put on it, and that absorption can vary enough to risk a positive detection.

Hoof poultices, clay poultices and leg sweats must come off by midnight on race day and must not go back on. Glycerine and Vicks VapoRub are not permitted at all. The permitted list runs to the ordinary and the non-medicated: routine hoof oils, sole paints, baby oil and petroleum jelly, shampoos, fly sprays, and ice or chilled water in the stables in the morning, but not on course before a race. Penetrene was none of those things, and the guide’s ban applied because the application happened on race morning.

On air, Channel 7 presenter Lizzie Jelfs put the rule in one sentence: “That’s the rules, no treatment can be provided to the horses on race day.” The charge Waller faced was framed more precisely. Stewards found Waller had negligently caused the liniment to be administered to both forelegs in his stable on race day, a breach of AR 249(1)(b). He pleaded guilty under AR 227(a), which allows stewards to penalise any person who “commits any breach of the Rules, or engages in conduct or negligence which has led or could have led to a breach of the Rules.”

Waller took the blame in front of the cameras and put the mistake down to the pressure of the day. “It’s not her fault, I’ve got to bear the responsibility,” he said of the stablehand. “It’s my team, it’s rare for us to make mistakes but the pressure of raceday.” The horse, he said, got the same treatment every day. “It’s a very basic liniment most stables use.” The person who looked after Asterix “put it on his legs right in front of the security guard, nothing to hide,” Waller said. “Nothing was hidden, the security guard was right there … as soon as it happened we knew there was a problem.”

Chief steward Rob Montgomery called it an honest mistake with big consequences. “Unfortunately, there was a topical treatment applied to the horse this morning which is allowed during the week but not on race day,” he told Nine. “It just is an honest mistake but unfortunately has big consequences for the connections of the horse.” Not everyone reading the Racing Victoria stewards’ post took it that way. DJSheppard73 describes himself as a mortgage broker and posts about racing and betting. He answered the announcement with a different reading of a first offence: “must be unluckiest stable in the world to get caught first time they do anything wrong.” The two readings sit against each other. To the officials, a clean record softened the breach. To a punter, being caught the first time looked like the luck running out.

Penetrene itself is unremarkable, which is part of the story. Racing Victoria’s stewards describe it as a topical product marketed as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic, for the symptomatic relief of muscle strains, sprains and soreness. A retail listing for Penetrene ‘A’ Liniment for Horses and Dogs describes a blend of natural oils including aniseed oil, sassafras oil and menthol, mixed at 13 mL to 750 mL of water or witch hazel and 250 mL of vinegar. The listing presents it as routine gear for a stable shelf. The stewards’ case was about when it was applied, not what was in the bottle.

The owners had waited six years for the morning. Sam Kelt, a Hawke’s Bay co-owner, bought Asterix in 2020 for $450,000, choosing him with the O’Sullivans to win a Melbourne Cup, and he and the other owners and their families were at Flemington when the withdrawal came through. “There is nothing wrong with the horse at all, he’s as fit as a fiddle, he’s absolutely flying,” Kelt told Hawke’s Bay Today at the course. “They appealed to the stewards, because it wasn’t performance-enhancing in any manner,” Kelt said. “It’s a minor breach of the rules, and any breach of the rules you get kicked out.” He took the longer view in the same conversation: “Life goes on. There are a lot of people in the world that have got a lot, lot more problems than a scratched horse in the Melbourne Cup.”

By the end of the day the record read: Chris Waller fined $50,000, Asterix withdrawn. The stewards’ report said they accepted the Penetrene had been applied in error by Waller’s stablehand. They were mindful of the seriousness of the matter and of a breach that had cost Asterix his place in the Cup. They also took into account the guilty plea and what they called Waller’s excellent record in relation to similar offences. Before any of that was known, Stephen Ousley, posting as @Stevepatrick60 from Gisborne in Victoria, had written on the stewards’ thread: “Nothing to see here I’m sure. St Christopher will talk his way out of this. He might go with the “Mathrick” defense and blame the Lodger? How can a trainer of his experience allow such treatment on race day? I’m tipping a little slap like the Freedman’s got. A small fine maybe.” Ousley wrote before the penalty was announced. The $50,000 that followed was larger than the slap he expected, and his question about experience sits beside the negligence finding in the stewards’ report.

Jye McNeil lost the ride he had been looking forward to. The 2020 Cup winner on Twilight Payment had Asterix from barrier 6 under 55kg, and shortly before the scratching he told Racing.com trackside: “He’s drawn really kindly, which is going to make my life a little bit easier.” Asterix was an eight-year-old who had earned the start. He won the 2022 New Zealand Derby and the Avondale Cup in 2024. Four more wins came in Australia in 2026: The Beauford at Newcastle, the JRA Plate at Randwick, the Gosford Gold Cup and the Tattersall’s Cup at Eagle Farm. He finished third in the Naturalism Stakes in September and 12th in the Caulfield Cup on October 17.

The Melbourne Cup 2026 result went on without him. Point Of Law, ridden by Ethan Brown for Ciaron Maher, won the 166th running over 3200m on a Soft 5 track in 3:21.88, by 3.75 lengths from Zahrann, with Juja Kibo third and Sons And Lovers fourth. Maher saddled a record seven runners and trained the first three home, the first trainer in the race’s 166-year history to do so, with five of the first six.

Had Asterix run and finished last, the connections would still have collected the $100,000 paid to every finisher from 13th place down. The scratch left them with that sum uncollected and a $50,000 fine on the trainer’s record instead. Soul Of Spain, Waller’s remaining runner, finished 13th, 9.01 lengths behind the winner.