A VERY mild attack of colic that thwarted South Australian sprinter Stirling Grove from competing in Monday's Standish Handicap at Flemington could have been a blessing, according to trainer Richard Jolly, reports The Age. It says: Stirling Grove was brought to Melbourne on Saturday morning from Adelaide for the Standish and supervising trainer Russell Cameron noticed the horse becoming upset and restless late on Sunday morning. By early afternoon Cameron was concerned enough to have him treated
A VERY mild attack of colic that thwarted South Australian sprinter Stirling Grove from competing in Monday's Standish Handicap at Flemington could have been a blessing, according to trainer Richard Jolly, reports The Age.
It says: Stirling Grove was brought to Melbourne on Saturday morning from Adelaide for the Standish and supervising trainer Russell Cameron noticed the horse becoming upset and restless late on Sunday morning. By early afternoon Cameron was concerned enough to have him treated, which ruled the horse out of a start the next day at Flemington.
However, Jolly now maintains that Stirling Grove's passing illness could have worked to the horse's advantage considering the effortless fashion in which eventual winner Catapulted overcame his rivals in the Standish.
''I spoke to Russell on Sunday and he said it was only a very minor problem and the horse was as good as new the next morning,'' Jolly said. ''At the time it meant a reshuffle of our plans as I wanted to use the Standish as a direct lead-up to [the] Chester Manifold Stakes in a few weeks. But I sat at home and watched Catapulted fly down the straight, running under [one minute, eight seconds] for the 1200 metres and thought, well, I don't think we could have done that. But as luck has it a good race at Caulfield was just six days away and probably not as tough as Flemington so everything wasn't lost.''