Star is shining again
TRAINER Bill Ryan is confident his quality filly Still a Star has fully recovered from a blood disorder that forced her out of the Tasmanian Derby.
Still A Star was sensationally scratched two days from the Derby when a routine test revealed she had a blood disorder.
A week later she had recovered enough to contest the Listed Strutt Stakes (2100m) in Hobart last Sunday.
She won that race by the narrowest of margins over another classy Tasmanian filly Mystical Pursuit.
But Ryan admitted his filly’s last 100 metres was not as strong as she normally delivers and he attributed that to the aftermath of the blood disorder.
“There’s no way of telling whether a horse, or any finely tuned athlete for that matter, has fully recovered from that sort of setback, until they are put under extreme pressure,” Ryan said.
“She was feeling the pinch at the end, but she did what all good horses do and found that little bit extra on the line to win.”
Still a Star looked good at Longford yesterday where she did pace work, but the test will come next week when she does fast work on Wednesday.
“I can’t fault the filly since her Strutt Stakes win so I’d say she is well and truly over the virus,” Ryan said.
Still a Star had a highly elevated white blood cell count and others in the stable suffered the same disorder.
But it was short-lived after treatment.
Still a Star and Mystical Pursuit are the standout local fillies to line up in next Sunday’s Tasmanian Oaks over 2100m in Launceston.
TOP interstate trainer Tony McEvoy has confirmed he will saddle up his smart mare Jentico in the $150,000 Vamos Stakes for fillies and mares on Launceston Cup day.
Jentico comes off a solid win at Caulfield three weeks ago after which McEvoy confirmed the daughter of Written Tycoon would make the trip to Tasmania.
“We’ve had the Vamos in mind for some time with this mare and after she won at Caulfield we set plans in motion to come to Tassie,” McEvoy said.
“Luke Currie rode her that day and he will ride her in the Vamos.”