Daryl Braithwaite's unofficial Cox Plate anthem The Horses is unlikely to ring out over Moonee Valley racecourse again after it stirred up the real horses before Saturday's $3 million race.The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) may abandon the pre-race entertainment altogether at the Cox Plate in the future and may even pre-record the national anthem to avoid a repeat occurrence.A number of horses including defending champion So You Think became stirred up by the noise with Braithwaite still singi
Daryl Braithwaite's unofficial Cox Plate anthem The Horses is unlikely to ring out over Moonee Valley racecourse again after it stirred up the real horses before Saturday's $3 million race.
The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) may abandon the pre-race entertainment altogether at the Cox Plate in the future and may even pre-record the national anthem to avoid a repeat occurrence.
A number of horses including defending champion So You Think became stirred up by the noise with Braithwaite still singing The Horses as they were being led out for Saturday's feature race.
MVRC chief executive Michael Browell said the club believed a disaster had been averted and would not take the same risk again.
"No horse was injured or I would say their performance impacted in any way as a result of it but the club's certainly not happy that the performance by Daryl Braithwaite, instead of going nine minutes - he decided to extend it out to over 12," Mr Browell told AAP.
Mr Browell said the course announcer had signalled the end of the performance but Braithwaite decided to belt out one more chorus when there were five Cox Plate runners being led onto the track.
"If I had have had the controls we would have just pulled the plug," Mr Browell said.
"Daryl Braithwaite was the entree, he wasn't the main act. The horses coming through for the Cox Plate were the main attraction on the day."
So You Think went on to win his second Cox Plate in a row but trainer Bart Cummings blasted the racing club.
"It's ridiculous," he said on Sunday. "It's not a concert, it's a race track."
Mr Browell said the club would apologise to the trainers, jockeys and owners of the affected horses.
"That colt that won the race is potentially valued at $20-30 million. We're just lucky, Daryl Braithwaite is just lucky, the bloke on the controls is just lucky that that horse didn't jump into the members' (stand)," he said.
Braithwaite, who has previously sung The Horses at the Cox Plate without incident, posted a message on his website saying the power was actually pulled on his performance, calling it a "strange sensation".
A representative for Braithwaite said the singer did not want to comment but indicated the problem was with the timing on the part of the organisers.
"I think it's fantastic to have entertainment but I understand it's a race and it's not about the entertainment," his spokesman said.