Group 1 placegetter Lord Of The Sky has been found with a tendon issue and he will miss the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival.
Lord Of The Sky will miss the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival after he was found with a tendon injury following his Bletchingly Stakes flop. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Lord Of The Sky was a big drifter in the lead-up to the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday and he was taken to the lead by jockey Craig Newitt in the early stages of the race, but he was unable to respond when he was asked for an extra effort and he finished at the tail of the field more than 200 metres behind the winner Smokin’ Joey.
Trainer Robbie Laing told Racing Ahead this morning that he knew Lord Of The Sky was in trouble when he found to find off Rich Jack to take up the running by himself and he revealed that vet Jacqui McGregor had found a tendon tear when she scanned the rising five-year-old on Sunday morning.
“When he is on song he will lead any field under a tight hold and Froggy dug him out of the machine and had to actually keep digging at him to hold Rich Jack out,” Laing said.
“I could see that we were in trouble before the first corner because he was changing strides and the head was coming up, as a result he finished about 200 metres behind them and his action looked terrible to me.
“In the veterinary examination after he didn’t seem to be too bad, but overnight his off-front from his knee down to his fetlock joint blew up like a football and it looked like a bowed tendon to me.
“Jacqui McGregor, our vet, came in yesterday to scan him and there is a very slight tear under his knee, which must have let go a lot of fluid after injuring it.”
Lord Of The Sky is sure to miss the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival, but Laing said that at this stage the tendon issue is not career threatening and he is hopeful that the T.J. Smith Stakes runner-up will be able to return to racing during the 2016 Melbourne Festival Of Racing.
“It doesn’t look like it is the end of the road because there is no black hole, so he is on anti-inflammatories and he will be restricted to walking exercises for at least a couple of months,” Laing said.
“The fact that there is not a decent tear in the deep flexor tendon means that I can envision him doing beach work in January and February and we will have a good gauge on him there, whether to continue on or whether he will need longer.”
Lord Of The Sky has accumulated almost $1 million in prizemoney from his 20 race starts, but he has not recorded a race win since he took out the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield over a year ago.
