Following the running of race two, Universal Thief stumbled roughly 150 metres past the winning post.

Race stewards inspected the ground and found it had given way under the horse to expose a small hole. 

While the hole was repaired, stewards were not comfortably satisfied that there were no further issues with the track and elected to abandon the meeting in the interests of horse and rider safety.

A veterinary examination of Universal Thief found the horse to be lame in its near foreleg. 

Jockey Jason Lyon, who was dislodged from the horse, was inspected by the on-course doctor and was cleared to travel home.

Racing Victoria’s tracks and facilities team will now conduct an inspection of the Murtoa track to determine the circumstances that led to the incident.

Murtoa Marma Racing Club racing operations manager Penny Penfold said it was hugely disappointing for the club not to be able to run all of the eight scheduled races.

“We are incredibly disappointed with the abandonment of Saturday’s Murtoa Cup race meeting,” she said.

Ms Penfold said a range of people, including the club’s committee and other staqff, had put a lot of work and hours into preparing for the Murtoa Cup. 

“An enormous amount of planning and hard work goes into staging the Murtoa Cup race meeting for the Murtoa community,” she said. 

“To not complete the race day is very dissatisfying for the committee, staff, members and all involved with the Murtoa-Marma Racing Club.”

Ms Penfold said many racegoers stayed at the track after the races were cancelled. She thanked them for the support of the club despite the cancelled races.

“Many stayed once the races were abandoned and continued to enjoy the race day atmosphere,” she said.

“We continued to play the Melbourne races throughout the afternoon and maintained the children’s activities, fashions on the field and musical entertainment.

“Thank you to the racegoers and sponsors that stayed and supported the club after the races were abandoned.”

The jockeys and connections of those horses in the abandoned races could each receive Racing Victoria’s standard abandonment fee.

The Murtoa Cup was on the same weekend as Murtoa’s Big Weekend festivities.

It had promised to be a big day for the club – the Murtoa Cup’s prize money was increased from $30,000 to $45,000 this year. The Murtoa Cup was going to be race six on the day. The club was also set to host a heat in the Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Series, which would have been race seven for the day.