THREE CHEERS
Wonderful Rondavels a miracle against all odds
MEET the medical miracle of Gold Coast racing.
Three Rondavels will bid to cap off a promising preparation with a win at Doomben today but even if he doesn’t, it’s quite the achievement just to be there.
“He has had three lifesaving surgeries,” trainer Melissa Leitch said. “The first was at three days old when he got a stake in the chest in a storm in New Zealand.
“They didn’t know if they could save his life but they did and they hand reared him for six months.
“Then about 2½ years ago he was in a paddock and he must have been kicked in the side of the stomach and a haematoma and a growth formed around the main artery to his heart which became the size of a football.
“He had to have surgery to get that removed and because it was around the main artery it couldn’t be surgically removed and it had to be hand removed and that was a long process.
“Then he got a bout of colic (at Aratula about 18 months ago) and it was just a matter of minutes longer and he wouldn’t have survived.
“He had to get rushed to Gatton and have lifesaving colic surgery and have his bowel removed.”
Now a rising five-year-old, Three Rondavels finally made his debut at the Gold Coast in February.
He has only been in Leitch’s care since November last year but he has already developed into the stable pet.
“He is just a big kid and because he has been hand reared he doesn’t know if he is a horse, dog or a cat and he is such a personalised horse,” Leitch said.
“He wants to talk to everyone and wants to be the centre of attention because he has had it all his life.
“His owners Ross and Judy Cutts have been great and they have stuck by him and given him every chance to survive through each procedure. A lot of times they were told he should be put him down but they said ‘no, do what you have to’.”
Fast forward to the present and Three Rondavels is repaying his owners with his deeds on the track.
He has already won two from four starts and Leitch is confident the best is yet to come. He’s a horse on the way up and every time he has raced he has come home and improved and I think he is going to be an exciting horse,” she said.
Three Rondavels ($18) contests the no-metro win handicap (1600m) at Doomben today and Leitch feels he is a genuine chance of causing a boilover.
“It’s a tough race and he is out of his class but I wanted to give him a go at the mile,” she said. “This is a good test for him but … I think he is up to this class of race.”