Jinx hits top rider yet again

SHANE ROSE is steeling himself for Melbourne in June, vowing to remain positive after his star horse All Luck was disqualified from a major Olympic selection event in Sydney yesterday.

Rose has suffered more setbacks than most.
He was selected for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his horse was injured while the team was acclimatising in the United States about two weeks before the Games began.
Rose was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001, battled for his life after a horse kicked him in the face in 2005 and was suspended for one month last August when the drug Pentobarbital was detected in his horse's system.
Yesterday, the 34-year-old from Camden was dealt another blow with All Luck failing the trot up at the Bates Sydney International Three Day Event, after finishing first in the cross country yesterday, and dressage on Friday.
After All Luck's disqualification, straight-talking Albany farmer Sonja Johnson won on Ringwould Jaguar, admitting her victory was less thrilling after Rose's misfortune.
"That's a prick of a thing. It's lovely to win but it takes a little bit of the gloss off it when this happens," she told reporters.
"It's a shame because Shane's horse was going fabulously. We need our best horses and riders of that calibre up there available for selection."
Rose must now compete at the Melbourne International Three Day Event at Werribee Park from June 6-9 if he is to have a chance at selection.
He said All Luck trod on his front left foot with his back foot and had a small cut.
"It sort of got me a bit by surprise because he has been pretty good and it shocked me a little when I went up and trotted," Rose said.