Trainer Mick Price is hoping for a light Spring campaign for his super sprinter Lankan Rupee who is recovering from a hock injury he suffered during the 2015 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Super sprinter Lankan Rupee could return to the race track during the 2016 Spring Carnival. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Lankan Rupee had to undergo an operation to repair the damaged hock after finishing third as the odds on favourite behind Alpha Miss and Cashed in the Group 2 $200,000 Mitsubishi Electric Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield.
Price has reported that the giant sprinter is ready to start light training and if he comes through his rehabilitation successfully will be aimed at running in the Group 1 $1m Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington on the last day of the four day Melbourne Cup Carnival in November.
“The signs are positive with him and his recovery from injury,” Price told racing.com.
“The previous core lesion in the hock is no longer visible and both ligaments are healthy and looking good.
“We’re going to put him into some slow canter work over the next eight weeks and he may catch one or two races in the late spring.”
Lankan Rupee was named Australian Horse of the Year and Champion Sprinter for the 2013-2014 season after stringing together three Group 1 victories.
The Redoute’s Choice gelding kicked off his hat trick of Group 1 wins during the 2014 Autumn Carnival in the $400,000 Sportingbet Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield followed by wins in the Group 1 $1m Lexus Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington and in the Group 1 $2.5m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick.
Lankan Rupee then returned in the Spring to win the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley and then added the Group 1 $500,000 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington to his Group 1 wining tally during the 2015 Melbourne Autumn Carnival.
A return to racing in 2016 Spring Carnival will see Price’s sprinting star clash with the Team Hawkes trained Chautauqua who is rated as the world’s number one sprinter and he lived up to that ranking with a last to first win in the Group 1 HK$10,000,000 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on May 1.
Lankan Rupee is the winner of eleven of his twenty-four races starts and has amassed over $4 million in prizemoney.
