Scans To Decide Mepunga Tully's Racing Future

A despondent Jeff Britton says X-rays scheduled for Tuesday will determine the immediate racing future of Australian Cup winner Mepunga Tully.

The daughter of Fernando Bale was a shock late scratching from last Saturday night's Group 1 Perth Cup Final (520m) at Cannington where she was the race favourite.

Britton noticed the prolific winner favouring a hock when preparing to head to Cannington to tackle the $200,000-to-the-winner final.

"I took her for a 10 minute walk at around 7am and she was absolutely fine," Britton said.

"I had a good look over her and couldn't have been happier. But then around lunchtime she was out for an empty and I noticed her favouring a hock and there was a little bit of swelling around it.

"She is a dog that jumps around quite a bit so I can only imagine she's done something then. 

"Panic set in pretty quick but with what I was feeling on it I knew she was going to have to come out. 

"She's not lame but there is something there. I'm hoping the X-Rays will tell us tomorrow because it is a bit puzzling."

Finishing first and third in the Perth Cup decider was Deadly Avenger and Morton which were drawn either side of Mepunga Tully in the flagship event.

Adding to Britton's disappointment was that the feature race went around with just seven runners.

"Everyone was really sympathetic and understanding on the night – it's just one of those things but it's happened to me a bit lately," Britton said.

"Whether she would have won we'll never know, there's not much point thinking about it.

"We'll just see what the X-Rays say tomorrow and go from there. Worst case there's a hairline (crack) or best case it might just be a sprained ligament we can treat."

After Saturday night's Perth Cup, Mepunga Tully was all set to be formally announced as The Sandgroper (520m) representative for slot holder Total Container Solutions/Team Britton at Cannington on April 24.

"We'll just need to wait for the results before working out whether she will be right for that race," Britton said.

"We'd love to be there but only if she's at her top. We'll know a lot more after the X-Ray results come back."

In the other Group 1 on Saturday night, Britton went within a whisker of landing the Galaxy (715m) with Groovebird before being grabbed right on the line by Ethanol Water.