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Taylor Swift canceled her performance at Australia's Melbourne Cup horse-racing event, the Victoria Racing Club announced in a news release.
The 29-year-old pop star was slated to headline the Lexus Melbourne Cup Day on Nov. 5 but had to pull out of the event because "changes to her Asian promo schedule" made it logistically impossible for her to be here, a music-booking agency said in the release.
"To all of Taylor’s fans, we hope to see Taylor in Australia in 2020," the agency said.
Swift has yet to comment publicly on her decision to pull out of the event.
But her cancellation drew cheers from animal-rights advocates who had protested against her planned appearance.
"Thank you Taylor!" the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses said in a Facebook post Saturday. "We are absolutely delighted with the news."
Ten days before, after Swift's performance at the race was announced, the coalition had urged its social media followers to ask her to say #NupToTheCup.
"Taylor Swift has put money before compassion by agreeing to perform at the 2019 Melbourne Cup," the group posted on Sept. 11. "Horses are being killed for gambling profits and entertainment. If Taylor Swift cares at all about other animals the way she appears to care about cats, she will cancel her show and make a strong statement that animal abuse is unacceptable."
After Swift canceled the show, Australian Sen. Mehreen Faruqi praised the pop star in a tweet, writing: "Good on Taylor Swift for pulling out and saying #NupToThecup."
At last year's Melbourne Cup, an Irish racehorse, The Cliffsofmoher, was euthanized after the 5-year-old stallion broke its shoulder, Reuters reported. The horse was the sixth to be euthanized after the race since 2013.
Deaths of racehorses have also drawn growing attention in the U.S. In June, Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was banned from the Santa Anita Park near Los Angeles after his horse, American Currency, was euthanized due to an injury the animal sustained while exercising.
It was the fourth horse from Hollendorfer's stable to die that season and the 30th racehorse to die at the Santa Anita track since December.
