There are growing concerns that boom filly Atlantic Jewel may not race for another 9 to 12 months. Apparently, her conditions has improved since a suspected hamstring injury was discovered, but veterinarians have been unable to pinpoint the exact nature of the injury that halted her VRC Oaks bid. Trainer Mark Kavanagh says: 'She'll have scintigraphy late next week where they run a dye through the whole system and it shows up any hot spots...Naturally the injury is a concern, but I can say that s
There are growing concerns that boom filly Atlantic Jewel may not race for another 9 to 12 months. Apparently, her conditions has improved since a suspected hamstring injury was discovered, but veterinarians have been unable to pinpoint the exact nature of the injury that halted her VRC Oaks bid. Trainer Mark Kavanagh says: 'She'll have scintigraphy late next week where they run a dye through the whole system and it shows up any hot spots...Naturally the injury is a concern, but I can say that she has improved dramatically over the last eight days and now it's just a matter of getting the results from the scans and see where it all sits.' The Age reports that if it is found that Atlantic Jewel has a bone injury, her autumn campaign is in tatters. Normally, such an injury requires as much as 16 weeks of recuperation, meaning she would not be able to resume work until April, with only the Brisbane winter carnival remaining for the season. Kav's staying find December Draw is also on the seriously injured list. The Turnbull Stakes winner was found to have fractured the lateral splint bone in the off hind leg after finishing 25 lengths last in the Caulfield Cup.
Veteran turf scribbler Max Presnell is rueing So You Think's roller-coaster European-USA adventure. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Max thunders: 'Watching So You Think, souped up with Lasix and turned on by blinkers in the Breeders' Cup Classic yesterday, emphasises how much better he would have been remaining in Australia under the master, Bart Cummings. Note the debacles with pacemakers after So You Think joined Aidan O'Brien, no doubt a great trainer, and again to the fore in the Breeders' Cup this year. But the reputation and status of So You Think would have been more substantial had he remained at home. Maybe we needed him, he sure would have helped the Cox Plate and Mackinnon, more than he and his owners needed us. It is hard to imagine So You Think being beaten here, certainly not by tactics, in recent months. And under no circumstances, considering the master's affinity with turf, would he have gone down on dirt.'