BLACK And Bent, the revelation of winter racing, both over jumps and on the flat, has emerged from his last-start defeat on the flat at Moonee Valley with a tendon injury, reports The Age.It says: It may spell the end of his career; certainly, he will not race again until at least next year.Just as jumps racing was beginning to flourish with Black And Bent as the flagship, the injury has caused plans for an overseas campaign to be shelved and the field of contenders for the Grand National Hurdle
BLACK And Bent, the revelation of winter racing, both over jumps and on the flat, has emerged from his last-start defeat on the flat at Moonee Valley with a tendon injury, reports The Age.
It says: It may spell the end of his career; certainly, he will not race again until at least next year.
Just as jumps racing was beginning to flourish with Black And Bent as the flagship, the injury has caused plans for an overseas campaign to be shelved and the field of contenders for the Grand National Hurdle is now wide open.
''On Monday the horse had some heat and swelling in his near fore tendon and after the vet scanned him it revealed some damage to the tendon,'' said trainer Robert Smerdon. ''We have treated the horse with anti-inflammatories and ice for 72 hours.
''On Friday we will know the extent of the injury after we have another scan. But as we all know, any tendon problem means a full calendar year in the paddock.
''You are always frightened of these things happening, but in the end it's all part of racing. The owners have been told and naturally we are all disappointed.''
Losing the best jumping horse in the country is a body blow to jumps racing as it starts to build momentum in an attempt to match key performance indicators set by Racing Victoria Ltd, which will determine whether jumps racing continues next year. With fields growing and falls declining in recent weeks, confidence has been growing that the sport will survive in the long term.