O'Brien's horses finished well down the field at Flemington

Trainer Aidan O'Brien has been cleared of any wrongdoing after being forced to appear in front of the stewards after Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

The Flemington stewards investigated the front-running tactics employed on the trainer's runners.

O'Brien had left the track after the race, in which his horses filled three of the last four placings, and was summoned back to face the inquiry.

The race was won by home challenger Viewed, who edged out Bauer by a nose.

O'Brien had high hopes for Irish St Leger winner Septimus, ridden by Murtagh but although he and stablemates Alessandro Volto, the mount of Lordan, and Honolulu, ridden by O'Donoghue, set a strong early pace, they faded late on.

Both Septimus and Honolulu were later found to be lame.

The chief steward at Flemington told O'Brien that it was routine to hold such inquiries but the Irish trainer, who was called back from a restaurant to attend, was said by the media who were in attendance to have been clearly affronted.

O'Brien admitted after the race that the performance of his team had left him with plenty to consider ahead of any future Melbourne trips.

"They didn't run within stones of what they were," he said. "The reason - if we did the wrong thing in quarantine, whether we travelled them wrong, whether we should have run them when they were over.

"There's a lot of things. There's a lot we have to learn. That's putting it mildly."

In September, O'Brien, Murtagh and O'Donoghue were found guilty of breaching the rules of racing at a hearing in London.

The charge related to the win by Duke of Marmalade, trained by O'Brien and ridden by Murtagh, in the Juddmonte International Stakes and the part that stablemate and pacemaker Red Rock Canyon, ridden by O'Donoghue, played in the win.

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