Highly rated UK import Lord Van Percy has tendon problems and will be sent immediately for a spell.

The Andrew Balding-trained five-year-old had scans on Monday which revealed tendon strain.

“Firstly we had to contend with a spider bite, but then we discovered he had some filling in a tendon sheath,” managing part-owner Terry Henderson told Racing Network on Tuesday.

“We had that tendon scanned yesterday and while it’s not a classic tendon problem, he has a strain to the tendon and he will go straight for a spell now."

Lord Van Percy was nominated for both the Group 2 $350,000 Zipping Classic and the Listed $150,000 Sandown Cup (3200m) at Sportingbet Park on Saturday.

After his spell Lord Van Percy will go to the Ballarat stables of Darren Weir.

“I’m glad he’s going to ‘Weiry’ as he can be trained on the straight track there at Ballarat,” Henderson says.

Lord Van Percy, or Van Percy as he was known in the UK, raced once during the spring in Melbourne, He ran an eye-catching 5th behind Big Memory in the Group 2 $200,000 Herbert Power Handicap (2400m) on October 11.

He had previously been the winner of five races from just 18 starts in the UK.