CHAMPION hoop Damien Oliver suffered a scare at Bendigo on Wednesday three days out from the start of the Flemington Carnival when he injured his left ankle just moments before the start of the last race.

But the three-time Melbourne Cup winner has declared himself a certain starter for Saturday’s bumper Derby Day meeting, and was even hoping to ride his Melbourne Cup mount Red Verdon at Werribee on Thursday morning.

“I think we were all a bit scared by it, but he’s fine,” Oliver’s riding agent Mark Van Triet told the Herald Sun. “He just said it had settled down all ready.

“There are no issues looking towards Flemington.”

Oliver was left feeling sore and sorry for himself after he knocked his leg while on Lucky Fish before the last race on Bendigo Cup Day.

He was left holding his ankle, with his riding boot off. The horse was scratched and Oliver was quickly attended on the scene and taken to the jockeys’ room.

Van Triet said Oliver was assessed by medical attendants at the track where it was determined that he had not suffered a break. He was allowed to fly back to Melbourne in the same helicopter he had arrived at on track earlier in the day.

“He knows his body really well, he has had a lot of injuries,” Van Triet said.

“He is standing on it now. They (medicos) looked at it and there is no break.”

The incident comes a month after he suffered severe leg bruising in late September at Flemington when his mount Thousand Wishes flipped backwards in the barrier, wedging his lower left leg between the horse and the gates.

Oliver was this week confirmed as the rider of Red Verdon in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, and has at least three rides in Group 1 races on Saturday - Thorondor (Coolmore Stud Stakes), Bring Me Roses (Empire Rose Stakes) and Grinzinger Star (Victoria Derby).

He has also been engaged to ride Booker in the Furphy Stakes and El Dorado Dreaming in Wakeful Stakes on Saturday.

Oliver is also booked for three rides at Moonee Valley on Friday night.

Meantime, international raider Duretto has been ruled out of the Melbourne Cup.

Duretto was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foreleg after extensive testing at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre. Duretto, who was sore after galloping at Werribee last Saturday, will now be spelled.

His demise paves the way for Sir Charles Road, third in the Bendigo Cup, to move into the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field.

RED ALTO UPSTAGES CUP HOPEFULS
RED Alto has dented the flickering hopes of three Melbourne Cup contenders with a signature upset in the Group 3 $350,000 Bendigo Cup (2400m).

Unwanted in betting, Red Alto started at $71 before staving off Melbourne Cup aspirants Dal Harraild, Sir Charles Road and Lord Fandango in another stunning boilover.

Taking his earnings to almost $800,000 with eight wins from 45 starts, Red Alto bookended a remarkable spring campaign with narrow success.

Five starts ago, trainer Brent Stanley took Red Alto to Sydney and took on, and beat, eight runners trained by Chris Waller.

At Bendigo, after unplaced runs in the Benalla and Hamilton Cups, Red Alto was on a similar David and Goliath mission with Stanley and jockey Michael Walker.

The pair was not only pitted against highly-rated favourite Furrion ($2.70), who had been specifically set for the Cup by Darren Weir for the race sponsor and prominent owner, Jayco’s Gerry Ryan, but there was also serious Melbourne Cup ramifications elsewhere.

Sir Charles Road, who is 25th in the Cup order of entry, could have earned a penalty and moved into Tuesday’s field with victory.

Ditto for Lord Fandango (34th) and Dal Harraild (36th).

Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s Dal Harraild came closest, going under a long head as Kerrin McEvoy chased a third successive victory in the race.

Stanley, who trains near Bendigo at Sutton Grange, was unsurprised by the win, revealing he had a “cheeky bet.”

“He’s (Red Alto) performed with these horses, he’s run fourth in a (VRC) Derby (to Tarzino in 2015) and sixth in a Queensland Derby (to Eagle Way),” Stanley said.

“He’s been around these kind of horses before, he just needed everything to go right.

“(He’s) at the end of a long preparation (now), he gave us a big thrill winning that race at Randwick against the Wallers. He’s always out there, Billy.

“The owners were a bit concerned after last-start (fifth in the Hamilton Cup to Master Zephyr), but he got his tongue over the bit.

“Tongue tie today and he could breathe today so he got to the line.”

Walker said Caulfield Cup-winning jockey Stanley’s instructions to sit close to the speed worked perfectly.

“Everything worked out to plan, I had a beautiful run,” Walker said.

“I had to wait for the split, got it, and he was tough.

“On the corner, I thought I was going to win. He was going really good.

“It was a tough win. It’s good for Brent and all of his staff.”

Furrion, who sat back in the field, ran on stoutly for fourth.