Racing Victoria stewards have finalised their inquiry into the fall during the 2026 Caulfield Cup, clearing all questioned riders.
Mark Zahra and Jye McNeil fell from Half Yours and Ohope Wins respectively in Saturday’s running of the Caulfield Cup and were taken to the Alfred Hospital for assessment.
Zahra was discharged that night, with McNeil following suit the next morning.
While Half Yours recovered and cantered off, Ohope Wins suffered a serious racing injury and was euthanised.
RV stewards gathered initial evidence on Saturday from Rachel King (Green Spaces), apprentice Jabez Johnstone (Kings Valley), assisted by Victoria Jockeys’ Association Chief Executive Matt Hyland, and Ethan Brown (Zahrann).
The inquiry resumed on Tuesday at RV headquarters, with evidence taken from the five jockeys and Hyland.
“Following a thorough review of the evidence of the riders along with Mr Hyland, which was inclusive of numerous camera angles, Stewards could not attribute the incident to the careless actions of any one particular rider,” RV stated.
“The Stewards are of the view that the marginal shifts from both Green Spaces, when under pressure, and Kings Valley resulted in both those runners becoming unbalanced and shifting in ultimately resulting in Half Yours being tightened and falling.
“Further, Stewards were satisfied Zahrann and Half Yours had both established a clear run prior to Half Yours meeting with interference.
“Stewards found that Rachel King and Jabez Johnstone had both taken the necessary corrective measures to straighten and relieve any pressure caused by their mounts to Half Yours.
“Furthermore, Ethan Brown rider of Zahrann had not contributed to Half Yours being tightened for room.
“As is routine practice, prior to resuming racing Stewards conducted an inspection of the track where the incident occurred and found no safety issues with the racing surface.
“Race 10 was subsequently conducted without incident.”
Co-Trainer Tony McEvoy advised that Half Yours had received treatment for lacerations and abrasions and was recovering well, but would now be spelled.
McNeil has since been cleared of any injury and is expected to resume riding at Geelong on Wednesday, while Zahra was due to meet his doctors again on Tuesday, with a decision on his likely return to riding expected after that. Explore online bookmakers for the next big race.
