Hay List Hit With Colic

Trainer John McNair may have saved the life of his sprint champion Hay List.

McNair noticed his charge was not 100% right after he was scratched from the Doomben 10,000 Friday because of an abscess on his hoof.

It is believed that treatment Hay List was receiving for the hoof abscess may have triggered a bout of colic in the horse.

Following the discovery of Hay List’s colic, McNair has ordered a round the clock vigil to ensure his charge could pull through this latest injury setback.

“I think the treatment they gave him for his foot abscess has led to the colic,” said McNair.

“We had some luck and picked up the colic early,” said McNair from Brisbane yesterday. “If it had of presented at 6.30 at night when I’d left the stable instead id 9.30 in the morning, I might have arrived the next day to find a dead horse.”

“It (colic) should have been beaten all ready but it’s not,” McNair said. “You’d want to be seeing improvement or we are in deep strife. But as we are speaking he seems to have improved marginally.

“I actually picked it up before he got it. If ever you are going to pick up colic early thankfully we got this one. Fortunately I asked the vet to tube him with oil and electrolytes. After tubing him he started pawing at the ground and wanted to get down,” said McNair.

McNair also confirmed that the foot abscess which kept Hay List out of the Doomben 10,000 was on the inside of his gallopers heel on the off-hind leg.

“It got infected and the leg swelled up in front of our eyes. They had to treat it with some antibiotics on Saturday and that has probably caused his stomach problems,” said McNair.

This latest injury set back means it is highly unlikely that we see Hay List again this campaign, although McNair stopped short of completely ruling the horse out.

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