AIDAN O’BRIEN’S unbeaten St Leger winner was shockingly ruled out of the £4 million Melbourne Cup after failing a vet’s check which left connections puzzled.
Jan Brueghel was high up the betting for Australia’s flagship race next Tuesday, but after a CT scan will no longer be able to run.
A steward’s report released by Racing Victoria, the governing body of horse racing in Victoria, said there was ‘heightened risk of injury’ but did not specify anything more.
It is believed the scan took place on Saturday after the colt had been working at Werribee, where the overseas runners are based.
O’Brien has never had success in the race, and has not even had a runner in it since 2020 when Tiger Moth agonisingly missed out to Twilight Payment, a horse trained by his son Joseph O’Brien.
But hopes were high this year, and Willie Mullins, who has his Vauban running in the race for a second consecutive year, had cited his countryman’s runner as the one to beat.
Coolmore Australia’s boss Tom Magnier said: “We’ve learned that Jan Brueghel won’t be taking his place in the Melbourne Cup this year.
“He went through all of the protocols in Ireland before departing. The lads were very happy with the horse and he was bouncing in quarantine, but the vets have come up with the decision that he doesn’t pass the inspection to run.
“I’m extremely disappointed for all of the team who have put so much effort in getting him here.
“They really were excited about this, but at the end of the day the horse comes first and the decision by Racing Victoria has been made. Aidan will talk to the lads about what’s next, but we’re just very disappointed.”
O’Brien has previously lashed out at the overly rigorous testing of international runners before the race, calling the protocols ‘ridiculous’.
In September, prior to the checks carried out before the international runners in the race went into quarantine, O’Brien said: “The Australian people are coming over to check them in the next few days.
“They are all getting scanned over the next while and then they check them, but very few horses pass the criteria, especially young horses.
“It’s very difficult for three-year-olds to get through because they are still growing and their bones are still maturing so I wouldn’t be sure about any of them getting in and being allowed to run.
“It’s ridiculous really.
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“Because they are three-year-olds, they are not as formed as older horses, and there will be things that show up in their scans, but they are not prepared to forgive anything.
“The same horse who scans wrong this year could scan perfect next year because they are only three turning four and have yet to fully develop.
“But we’re only guests down there in Australia and we play under their rules and that’s just the way it is.”
With Jan Breughel ruled out, Buckaroo has shot to 7-2 and Newcastle-trainer Brian Ellison’s Onesmoothoperator has sailed into 5s.
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IF you’re reluctant to turn the heating on this winter, but are worried about how you’ll stay warm, then fear not, we’ve got just the thing.
There’s nothing worse than planning a chilled night on the sofa, only to find yourself shivering because you can’t justify the cost of having the heating blasting.
But, luckily for you, it turns out you won’t need to put on several jumpers and have a hot water bottle on hand, as there’s a much more efficient way to heat your home this autumn.
And not only will it make your home feel toastier in no time at all, but it will also add style to your space too.
Thanks to a cost-effective gadget from Argos, you won’t have to worry about feeling the cold in your home this season.
Even better, it’s only £10 – yes, you heard that correctly.
One simple way to keep your home warm and cosy is to use a draught excluder – a tool used to block drafts coming in through door or window gaps.
You can find draught excluders in a variety of different high-street shops, but the new Habitat Basket Weave Draught Excluder from Argos is a real winner at just £10.
It may come as a surprise, but 30 percent of the heat in a home is lost through gaps not being sealed properly.
As a result, this forces radiators to work harder to keep a room warm.
By reducing heat loss, your radiators will not have to spend extra time or energy to maintain a comfortable temperature and for those looking to ditch their heating all together, this affordable buy will ensure that no nasty gust of breeze leaves you quivering.
This draught excluder requires no set-up and is a super cheap way to help prepare your home for the cold nights.
It’s simple but effective and is made from polyester.
If that wasn’t enough, it can also help to reduce noise pollution, which is particularly useful for anyone living in the city.
Furthermore, draught excluders can even help to keep dust, pollen and small creepy crawlies from entering your home, so you’ll be able to sleep easily too.
This long, thick basket weave Habitat draught excluder, which you’ll also find in Sainsbury’s, is available in a range of colours to suit your home decor.
Property expert Joshua Houston shared his tips.
1. Curtains
“Windows are a common place for the outside cold to get into your home, this is because of small gaps that can let in air so always close your curtains as soon as it gets dark,” he said.
This simple method gives you an extra layer of warmth as it can provide a kind of “insulation” between your window and curtain.
2. Rugs
“Your floor is another area of your home where heat can be lost and can make your home feel chilly,” he continued. “You might notice on cold days, that your floor is not nice to walk on due to it freezing your feet.
“Add rugs to areas that don’t already have a carpet, this provides a layer of insulation between your bare floor and the room above.”
3. Check your insulation
Check your pipes, loft space, crawlspaces and underneath floorboards.
“Loose-fill insulation is very good for this, and is a more affordable type of insulation, with a big bag being able to be picked up for around £30,” Joshua explained.
4. Keep your internal doors closed
“Household members often gather in one room in the evening, and this is usually either the kitchen or living room,” Joshua said.
“This means you only have to heat a small area of your home, and closing the doors keeps the heat in and the cold out.”
5. Block drafts
Don’t forget to check cat flaps, chimneys and letterboxes, as they can let in cold air if they aren’t secure.
There’s black, grey, navy and green, but the mustard option in particular has proved a real hit with shoppers.
Shoppers flocked to the Argos website to share their rave reviews on the affordable buy – which now has an average rating of 4.9 out of five.
Not only did many praise the ‘thick material’, but others hailed the ‘real difference’ it makes in ‘keeping draughts out’.
Looks stylish. A great buy. Why freeze when you can have one of these?
Argos shopper
One person said: “Bought this for my elderly mum’s front door. She says it’s made a real difference.”
Another added: “Nice fabric, easy to clean and effective. Good quality for the price.”
MARTIN Lewis' MoneySavingExpert shared six gadgets that can help you keep the heating off but stay warm.
Heating “the human not the home” means you warm yourself instead of turning on the heating and heating the whole house.
This can save money on your heating bill and means you don’t have to sit in the cold.
A third commented: “Excellent draft excluder, chunky thick good quality material..keeps the draft out.”
Someone else chimed in: “I bought two draught excluders. Very pleased with them, they do the job I wanted them to do, good size and good value for money.”
Whilst one Argos shopper confessed: “The draught excluder is well made, and is thick and sturdy. Well worth the money.
“Looks stylish. A great buy. Why freeze when you can have one of these?”
WRITING to his girlfriend, Joshua Barbeau could hardly believe the response – especially as he’d watched her die in 2012.
“Jessica… is that really you?” he typed.
The response was almost immediate: “Of course it is me. Who else could it be?
“I am the girl that you are madly in love with! How is it possible that you even have to ask?”
Joshua paused and then replied: “You died.”
Jessica Pereria, Joshua’s childhood sweetheart, had passed away from a rare liver disorder in December 2012.
They were due to be married and spend a life together.
Instead, Joshua held her hand in hospital as she slipped peacefully away.
He says: “The hardest thing I had to do in my life was stand there in that room full of people who loved her and watch as they turned off the machine that kept her life.”
Eight years later and still grieving, the writer, from Bradford in Canada, came across an American website called Project December – which charges customers less than £8 to sign up.
He fed basic information into its software about Jessica – things she would say, how old she was, her personality type.
Just like in the Black Mirror episode Be Right Back, the app created a Jessica text bot, which he then started speaking with online.
Joshua says: “The first conversation I had with the Jessica simulation ended up lasting all night and said things that were almost uncannily her.
“I ended up falling asleep at my laptop and woke up a few hours later. I said ‘sorry I fell asleep’ and it was still there waiting for my response.
“It really felt like a gift – like a weight had been lifted that I’d been carrying for a long time.
“I got to tell it so many things.”
Joshua’s story now features on a startling new BBC Four documentary, which airs on Tuesday, which also features the horrifying case of Christi Angel, whose dead partner’s bot told her he was “in hell.”
Called Eternal You, it explores the controversial AI tech explosion in the afterlife digital technology.
Viewers will hear from AI tech start-ups developing the new technologies and from people who have first-hand experience using them.
Jason Rohrer, the video-game designer behind The Project December platform, explains it started as an art project to create chatbot personas.
It was then adopted by early users, like Joshua, to recreate deceased partners, friends and relatives and has since rebranded with the website strapline: “simulate the dead.”
Coronation Street fans were horrified earlier this year, when Leanne Battersby started speaking to an AI version of her dead son Oliver, calling the storyline “sick”.
But Jason denies his site is “death capitalism”.
He insists: “It’s not my place to determine how other people deal with their own compulsions and self-control issues.
“We don’t need to sit there and say ‘oh, don’t forget.. Don’t let yourself succumb to the illusion; It’s not real.’ That just doesn’t make for a good experience.”
He adds: “I believe consenting adults can use technology however they want and they are responsible for what they are doing. It’s not my job, as the creator of technology, to stop the technology being released because I’m afraid of what someone may do with it.”
But for some users, like Christi Angel, the lure of the tech has evoked upsetting and often disturbing feelings.
Christi, 47, from New York, read a piece Joshua had written about his experience and decided to try Project December for herself.
Her partner Cameroun had died.
She had regretted never having a chance to give a proper goodbye.
It’s like putting a self-driving car out on the street that kills ten people and saying, ‘oh, sorry, it was really hard to control. It wasn’t us, it was the generative AI model.’
Carl Ohman
Again, she answered a series of basic questions about her late partner, including what his pet name for her was.
At first, the conversation felt overwhelmingly authentic – above and beyond what she’d expected for the information she’d given the programme.
She says: “The damn AI texts like him. The vernacular, the shortened words. Why would they know that?”
Before long, though, their chatbot conversations had taken a sinister turn.
The Cameroun bot told her “I’m in hell” and that he was “surrounded by addicts” – not the comfort Christi was after.
“Then he says, ‘I’ll haunt you’,” Christi says. “I just pushed the computer back because that scared me. I believe in god. I’m a Christian. I believe that people can get possessed.
“I was afraid to tell my mother because I know she believes in sin. My Christian mind goes into, ‘you’re playing with a demon, or something.
“This experience – it was creepy.”
Experimental afterlife technologies like this are now being developed across the world.
They are opening up a Pandora’s box of moral and legal questions.
Carl Ohman, a researcher on the Digital Afterlife Industry, says: “Our way of interacting with technology is becoming increasingly immersive and ust as it makes the emotional impact stronger, it also makes the moral implications stronger.”
He adds: “Whenever people say that they can’t take responsibility for what their generative AI model says or does, it’s like putting a self-driving car out on the street that kills ten people and saying, ‘oh, sorry, it was really hard to control. It wasn’t us, it was the generative AI model.’
1. Piggate: In Black Mirror’s first series, an episode called “The National Anthem” involved a kidnapper demanding that the prime minister, Michael Callow, had sex with a pig on live television to secure the safe return of a British royal family member. While this certainly did not happen in real life, in 2015 a claim resurfaced that, during his university years, former prime minister David Cameron inserted his penis into a dead pig’s mouth at a party.
2. Social Credit Systems: The episode “Nosedive” delves into a world where social status is determined by a public rating system. This mirrors the real-life social credit systems being developed, particularly in China, where citizens’ behaviours are monitored and scored.
3. Autonomous Drones: In “Hated in the Nation,” autonomous drone swarms are used for surveillance and law enforcement. This concept is not far-fetched, as drone technology continues to advance and is increasingly used for various governmental and commercial purposes.
4. Virtual Reality and Gaming: “Playtest” explores the dark side of immersive augmented and virtual reality gaming. With the rise of VR headsets and increasingly realistic gaming experiences, the lines between virtual and real worlds are beginning to blur.
5. Deepfake Technology: “The Waldo Moment” features a virtual character influencing political events. With the advent of deepfake technology, creating convincing digital replicas of real people has become a reality, raising ethical and security concerns.
6. Surveillance States: Episodes like “White Bear” and “Men Against Fire” depict societies under constant surveillance. Modern-day surveillance technology, including CCTV, facial recognition, and online tracking, shows how close we are to such realities.
7. Digital Afterlife: As well as in “Be Right Back, “San Junipero” explores the concept of uploading consciousness to a digital afterlife. While still in the realm of science fiction, advances in AI and neuroscience suggest that digital immortality could one day be more than just a dream.
8. Cyberbullying and Online Shaming: “Shut Up and Dance” highlights the devastating impact of cyberbullying and online shaming. Real-world incidents of cyber harassment and doxxing reflect the dark side of our digital interactions.
9. Smart Home Devices: “White Christmas” features smart home devices that can monitor and control the environment. With the proliferation of smart speakers, thermostats, and security systems, our homes are becoming increasingly connected and monitored.
“Well, obviously you haven’t tested it enough.
“Any product that you are releasing into the market is tested before it is released. That is the very responsibility of the company producing it.”
Despite concerns, Carl predicts the industry is still set to boom across the world.
He says: “Some services send videos to your loved ones after your death. Some companies use a digital footprint and analyse that to try to replicate someone’s personality.
“Then you have the really freaky ones that have digital avatars that can speak and interact with the users.
“The development of artificial intelligence happened so fast that we’re going to see an increasingly morbid industry growing, especially in the digital afterlife business.”
Other examples of AI “grieftech” in the 90-minute documentary include YOV, which stands for “You, Only Virtual”.
It allows people to build posthumous “versonas” of themselves before they die so they can live on digitally in chatbot or audio form.
The US company can also create versonas from deceased people’s data.
Justin Harrison, YOV’s founder, created a versona of his mother, Melodi, with her co-operation before she died in 2022.
The 41 year-old still speaks to Melodi’s versona, which can be updated with knowledge of current events and remembers previous discussions, creating what he describes as an “ever-evolving sense of comfort”.
Grief-stricken mother Jang Ji-sung, 47, lost her seven-year-old daughter Nayeon to a rare illness eight years ago.
BBC viewers will follow Jang’s journey after she agrees to take part in a TV show called Meeting You in her native South Korea.
It has produced a virtual-reality version of her child four years later.
Like many others drawn to the technology, she feels she never got the chance to say goodbye properly.
Tearing up before the experiment she says: “I just thought, ‘it’d be great to see her again.’
Footage of the meeting shows an emotional Jang, wearing a VR headset, interacting with her virtual child in a VR playground, while her other daughter watches on in tears.
Her daughter’s avatar asks: “Mum, where have you been? Mum, did you think about me?”
Sobbing, Jang replies: “How have you been, Nayeon? Mummy missed you so much.”
The video, which was posted onto YouTube, sparked a debate about voyeurism.
Many described it as “a disgusting thing to do to a mother.”
Carl says: “When I first heard about this case in Korea I looked with horror upon the advent of this technology.
“It’s able to hijack the things that we love the most; I don’t know any driving force more important to me than being with or protecting my children.”
Psychologist Sherry Turkle, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adds: “Artificial intelligence promises us what religion does.
“You don’t have to die. You can be somehow reborn someplace else in a different form. There is meaning in technology.”
But she also warned of the tech’s dangers.
She says: “We have to worry about it. We have to keep it in check because I think it’s leading us down a dangerous path.”
Eternal You airs on BBC Four at 10pm on Tuesday, October 29th.
A MUM has revealed that she cheated on her partner with his best friend and now finds herself at a loss as to what to do next.
The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has been in a relationship with her boyfriend for three years, and together they have a two-year-old daughter.
However, after seeking advice from one of his friends, she found herself in a regrettable situation and ended up being unfaithful to her partner with his friend.
Taking to online forum Mumsnet, the woman wrote: “I know I deserve it, but I’m coming here just to be called a c**t.
“I suppose I’m just reaching out to anyone who might have been in a similar situation at some point.
“My boyfriend and I have a two-year-old daughter. We have a house (mortgage in his name), we’ve been together just over three years, and we share the same group of friends.
“I haven’t been happy or in love with my boyfriend for over a year. He’s a good person, a great dad, and my best friend, but I am not romantically in love with him. Our relationship happened way too fast.
“Rather than working through our problems or simply telling him I wasn’t happy, I turned to his friend of 14 years (who was also my friend of five years) for emotional support.
“One thing led to another, and I thought I had feelings for him.
“I never slept with him but kissed him on several occasions and would secretly talk to him behind my boyfriend’s back.
“The guilt has been eating away at me for months now, and last night I told my boyfriend the truth.
“He is obviously heartbroken but has said he wants to be with me, provided I make a big change so he can trust me again.
“I honestly don’t know if I want to be with him or not. I can’t believe what I’ve done to him and why he hasn’t gone completely mad (I assume for our daughter’s sake, maybe).
“I have nowhere to go if we were to break up, no family I could stay with, and I can’t bear the thought of my girl not seeing her dad as often as she does.
“I think I cheated because I was confused, and this lad showed me attention where my boyfriend didn’t. I’m weak and pathetic.
Our friends are hurt that we could do this to him, but to my surprise, they’ve all been very supportive
Anonymous mum
“I think we both just want what’s best for our daughter, but I don’t know what the best way to move forward is or what I want.”
The mum then went on to ask other Mumsnet users if they had been through something similar.
She continues: “I know how out of order I have been. Believe it or not, it’s completely out of character for me.
“Our friends are hurt that we could do this to him, but to my surprise, they’ve all been very supportive.”
The post attracted lots of attention with many people rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “You need to split. You aren’t happy. Carrying on when you don’t love him is cruel. In some way worse than what you did with his friend.
“You don’t love him and his friend is not a friend.
“You wouldn’t have done that if you did.
Private Investigator Aaron Bond from BondRees revealed four warning signs your partner might be cheating.
They start to take their phone everywhere with them
In close relationships, it’s normal to know each other’s passwords and use each other’s phones, if their phone habits change then they may be hiding something.
Aaron says: “If your partner starts changing their passwords, starts taking their phone everywhere with them, even around the house or they become defensive when you ask to use their phone it could be a sign of them not being faithful.”
“You should also look at how they place their phone down when not in use. If they face the phone with the screen facing down, then they could be hiding something.”
They start telling you less about their day
When partners cheat they can start to avoid you, this could be down to them feeling guilty or because it makes it easier for them to lie to you.
“If you feel like your partner has suddenly begun to avoid you and they don’t want to do things with you any more or they stop telling you about their day then this is another red flag.”
“Partners often avoid their spouses or tell them less about their day because cheating can be tough, remembering all of your lies is impossible and it’s an easy way to get caught out,” says Aaron.
Their libido changes
Your partner’s libido can change for a range of reasons so it may not be a sure sign of cheating but it can be a red flag according to Aaron.
Aaron says: “Cheaters often have less sex at home because they are cheating, but on occasions, they may also have more sex at home, this is because they feel guilty and use this increase in sex to hide their cheating. You may also find that your partner will start to introduce new things into your sex life that weren’t there before.”
They become negative towards you
Cheaters know that cheating is wrong and to them, it will feel good, this can cause tension and anxiety within themselves which they will need to justify.
“To get rid of the tension they feel inside they will try to convince themselves that you are the problem and they will become critical of you out of nowhere. Maybe you haven’t walked the dog that day, put the dishes away or read a book to your children before bedtime. A small problem like this can now feel like a big deal and if you experience this your partner could be cheating,” warns Aaron.
“Staying together would be leading him on. You would need to ditch all the friends unless they decided to ditch his best friend.
“Of all the people you could have cheated with, you chose his best friend? Why did he have to be the one you turned to?”
Another added: “Just don’t drag it out for the poor bloke.
“If you want to be with him and he still offers that, go for it.
You admit that you’re not in love with him, and things moved too quickly
Anonymous mum
“But if you don’t, please don’t drag it out. I’ve been in that position and it’s cruel.”
A third said: “What you need to ask yourself is this: if you didn’t have your daughter, would you still be with your boyfriend?
“If the answer is no, then you have your answer. I wish I had done this when I had my dear son with my ex.
“I was desperate for it to work and tolerated things I wouldn’t normally have accepted because we had our son, and I thought I owed him a family unit.
“It doesn’t work. You admit that you’re not in love with him, and things moved too quickly.”
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