Injury puts Woorim out of spring
GROUP 1 winner Woorim will be given every chance to return in autumn after a tendon injury ended his spring campaign.
‘‘Anything to do with a tendon can be serious but fortunately it is a minor problem,’’ trainer Robert Heathcote said.
‘‘It happened last week and luckily we got to it in the very early stages.
‘‘There has been no haemorrhaging and it’s not torn or ruptured but being a tendon we had no hesitation in taking him out of work.’’
Scans on Woorim’s off-fore tendon during the past 24 hours sealed the horse’s spring fate but Heathcote said he would try to put the sprinter-miler into work towards year’s end.
‘‘Now that we’ve abandoned the spring, hopefully I can bring him back for the autumn,’’ the leading Brisbane trainer said.
‘‘Mother Nature and time will be the best healer and hopefully I can get him back to possibly defend his Oakleigh Plate crown.’’
Woorim gave Heathcote
his first Group 1 success when he produced a barnstorming finish to edge Elite Falls in the famous Caulfield sprint in February.
The seven-year-old was have been an integral part Heathcote’s carnival team.
‘‘It’s disappointing but I guess having little Buffering in the stable makes it easier to get out of bed,’’ Heathcote said.
‘‘We’re a resilient bunch, us trainers. Thankfully the horse is still with us but I’m sure there will be other disappointments along the way.’’ to of
Buffering is continuing his build-up to the Melbourne spring carnival. He is scheduled to resume in the Schillaci Stakes before returning to Group 1 action in the Manikato Stakes and the Patinack Farm Classic.
Heathcote has Solzhenitsyn, the six-year-old who ended the Brisbane winter carnival with a hat-trick of wins, set for the Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington on September 8 ahead of his Group 1 racing debut in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on September 30.