2008 Cox Plate winner Maldivian's spring campaign over

October 13, 2009

Star galloper Maldivian's Spring Carnival is finished after breaking down on Tuesday morning.

The 2008 Cox Plate winner pulled up with a tear in a tendon after trackwork, and trainer Mark Kavanagh announced immediately that Maldivian’s spring was over.

Maldivian was regarded as a leading chance in both the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate.
"Maldivian worked well on grass this (Tuesday) morning but on cooling down was found with heat in his near side front tendon," Kavanagh said in a statement.

"It has been discovered he has a tear of 12.5 per cent and he's out for the Spring Carnival.

"He will be assessed thereafter."

Maldivian seems cursed by the Caulfield Cup as he was a sensational late scratching when favourite in 2007 after smashing his head on the barrier stalls.

It was woeful morning at the track on two fronts for Kavanagh, whose top-class filly Cat's Whisker also injured herself and will miss the rest of the sping.