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Horse racing - Jockey Moreira replaced in Melbourne Cup after fall

FILE PHOTO - Horse Racing - Dubai World Cup - Meydan Racecourse, Dubai - 25/3/17 - Joao Moreira riding Vivlos celebrates winning the seventh race. REUTERS/Stringer (Reuters)

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira has been stood down from his ride on Thomas Hobson in the A$6.2 million (3.62 million pounds) Melbourne Cup after suffering a fall in an earlier race at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday.

Hong Kong-based Moreira went down on the Chris Waller-trained Regal Monarch during race four at Flemington and had to be assisted from the track.

He was stood down after a medical assessment.

The William Mullins-prepared Thomas Hobson, a 15-1 contender, will now be ridden by 18-year-old Ben Allen, the Irish trainer confirmed.

"I've spoken to him (Allen) already," Mullins said in a televised interview. "I'm happy enough with it."

The Melbourne Cup, the world's richest two-mile handicap, gets underway at 0400 GMT.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)