High class mare First Seal will have to under surgery to rectify a foot problem that has forced her out of the Sydney and Melbourne Spring Carnivals.
First Seal is out for the Spring because of a foot problem. Photo by Steve Hart.
For the second time in as many weeks trainer John Thompson was forced to scratch First Seal from her engagement in the Group 2 $175,000 Tattersalls Club Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick last Saturday.
First Seal was due to kick off her Spring Carnival campaign in the Group 2 $250,000 Pro-Ride Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Randwick two weeks earlier but the development of a foot abscess put her comeback on hold.
Thompson is confident that the minor surgery on her hoof will clear the problem up and the Group 1 winning mare will be fit to tackle the 2016 Autumn Carnival after MRI scan revealed the extend of the problem on Monday.
“We’ll get that done and she’ll be back for the autumn,” Thompson told Racenet.
“Fixing the problem will put her out of action for about four weeks so that will rule her out of the spring.
“It’s not recent, it’s been there for six months.
“She’s been going well but something had been niggling her and it’s good that we have finally identified what the problem is.”
“She has a keratinised tissue forming in her back foot.”
“It’s underneath where the hoof has abscessed up in the past so it’s an early forming keratoma and the only way to get rid of it is to cut it out.
“It’s causing abscesses so it needs to be removed.”
The weekend wasn’t all gloom and doom for Thompson who ended up collecting the winning trophy for the Tramway Stakes when Hooked led from start to finish with Tye Angland in the saddle.
In the week leading up to the Warwick Stakes, First Seal was crowned NSW Horse Of The Year, champion three-year-old and Queen of the Autumn for her race day deeds over the past twelve months.
During the 2014 Sydney Spring Carnival First Seal won the Group 1 $400,000 Coolmore Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick before running second to Hampton Court in the Group 1 $400,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.
Then in the Autumn the glamour filly added the Group 2 $175,000 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Warwick Farm on February 28 to her winning record before finishing in the runner’s up stall at her two next starts.
First Seal was pipped on the post by the Peter Moody trained Plucky Belle in the Group 1 $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill and was then beaten a neck by Victorian filly Fenway in the Group 1 $400,000 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
