Maluckyday's return to racing is uncertain after suffering pneumonia
He was arguably the breakout horse of the 2010 spring carnival and the first favourite for the 2011 Melbourne Cup.
Such was the hype surrounding Maluckyday last season that even after a couple of disappointing runs in the autumn he was still atop the betting for the first Tuesday in November.
As we now know not only did he fail to make the Melbourne Cup field, He failed to take to the track at all during the spring carnival.
It can now be revealed that Maluckyday’s condition actually became even more dire than first thought.
“He finished up with pneumonia unfortunately,” trainer John Hawkes said.
As a result it’s hard to tell when, if ever, the 2010 Melbourne Cup runner up will get back to the racecourse.
“We’re going to give him a really long spell through the autumn,” Hawkes said.
If they decide to wait until after autumn it will likely mean a full 12 months between runs assuming they wait until the spring of 2012.
The only other option would be to hold off until winter and look for a race during the Brisbane Carnival.
Whatever happens though you can be confident he’ll only return if the team are completely confident with him.
“Horses like him are just very very hard to find,” Hawkes said.
It’s the type of strategy he’s had success with before though with Niwot coming back from an even more precarious position to finish the best of the local horses in the 2011 Melbourne Cup.
“Nature fixes a lot of things,” he said.
“The vets said Niwot would never come back and he got into a Melbourne Cup.”
That being said the injuries are very different and with Maluckyday it’s tough to know just how well he’s going.
“When it affects their lungs it’s something that you’ll never really know how it’s going to affect them until they get back into racing,” he said.
“They’re finally tuned athletes, you’ve got them today and they’re gone tomorrow, there’s a really fine line.”
Maluckyday has a record of five wins from 13 races and the only time he’s missed a place were during his three autumn runs and his solo spring start in the Chelmsford Stakes.
