Trainer Anthony Cummings has revealed that promising stayer Fiveandahalfstar will miss the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival due to his troublesome fetlock injury.
Fiveandahalfstar has not been seen at the races since he took out the 2012 edition of The BMW. Photo by: Steve Hart
Fiveandahalfstar suffered a sprained fetlock when he scored a narrow win over Silent Achiever and Sangster in the Group 1 The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens on April 6 last year and that injury has kept him away from the track for over a year.
The son of Hotel Grand returned to light work at the end of last year and Cummings was hoping that the tough gelding would be fit enough to run in the 2014 Melbourne Cup, but the leading trainer told TVN that scans had shown that Fiveandahalfstar’s injury had not healed sufficiently for him to return to fulltime work.
“The leg has definitely improved but it’s not ready yet to go back into work,” Cummings said.
“The real expectation is he’ll be back for the autumn next year.
“The horse has been put on an exercise program and we will follow that, but realistically I don’t think we’re going to see him in the spring.”
Fiveandahalfstar made his racing debut as a two-year-old at Canterbury in 2012 and was unable to score a win in his maiden racing campaign that was highlighted by a fourth place finish behind Dear Demi in the Listed Fernhill Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick.
The gelding broke through for his maiden race win in the fifth race start of his three-year-old campaign in the Australian Turf Club Plate (1900m) at Canterbury on October 17 and he was entered for the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) after scoring an impressive win at Rosehill Gardens on October 27.
It’s A Dundeel was a clear favourite to take out the Victoria Derby and Fiveandahalfstar started at the lengthy odds of $40, but the promising stayer produced a tough on-pace performance to score an upset win from Super Cool and Rawnaq.
Fiveandahalfstar started his autumn campaign with a string of second place finishes in the Group 2 Autumn Stakes (1400m), Group 2 Autumn Classic (1800m), Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) and Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) before scoring his second win at Group 1 level with a brave front-running effort in The BMW, but missed the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) and another clash with It’s A Dundeel after suffering the fetlock injury that has plagued him ever since.
