Thunder Down Under injured again
Talented four-year-old Thunder Down Under is on the easy list.
The stakes-winning son of Street Sense looked back to something like his best last month at Te Rapa where he overcame a wide run for the fourth victory of his career.
His progress has subsequently been halted and he will be sidelined through the winter.
‘‘He was sore again after he won and it’s turned out that he’s fractured a pedal bone,’’ trainer Stephen Ralph said.
‘‘It doesn’t need surgery and he’s on a month’s box rest and then he’ll be in a small yard for six weeks.’’
Ralph’s team is now based at Te Awamutu where the facilities will speed up Thunder Down Under’s recovery.
‘‘We’ll be swimming him every day to keep up his fitness and he should be back racing in three months,’’ he said.
The Hawke’s Bay spring carnival is the longer-term target for Thunder Down Under.
‘‘That’s what we’re aiming for and, hopefully, he can be there for the first one, the Makfi but we’ll have to see how he goes,’’ Ralph said.
‘‘The best of him is yet to come as he gets older and stronger.’’
Thunder Down Under won the Listed BMW Salver at Ellerslie last season and subsequently placed in a handful of starts for champion Sydney trainer Chris Waller.
Thunder Down Under’s stakeswinning stablemate Admiral is expected to enjoy another good winter campaign.
The winner of the Listed Karaka Classic during his last preparation, he recently resumed with a fourth placing at Ellerslie.
‘‘He’s going on really well – he’s a very good mudlark,’’ Ralph said.
The workload of the wellperformed colt Savile Row has gone up a notch.
The gifted son of Makfi enjoyed a good spell and he is now slowly picking up the pace toward his four-year-old campaign.
‘‘He’s back in pre-training and he’s just a different horse,’’ said Jonathan Scully, racing manager for breeder-owner Kevin Hickman.
‘‘Toward the end of his last preparation he was having immaturity problems and issues with his joints and he’d had enough.
‘‘The time out has served him really well and he’s lengthened and strengthened and he’s much more well-balanced now.’’
Trained by Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard, Savile Row won his only start as a two-year-old and this season he ran third in the Listed Barneswood Farm Stakes before he finished runner-up to Ugo Foscolo in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas.
He came back from a brief letup to win at Ellerslie and was then narrowly beaten in the Levin Classic. The colt later performed admirably against the older horses in the Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa, where he beat all but Volkstok’n’barrell. Savile Row was subsequently spelled following a below par performance when unplaced in the New Zealand Derby.
‘‘It will be nice to get a Group win under his belt after going close a number of times,’’ Scully said.
‘‘I’m not sure if he will race in New Zealand before the Melbourne spring carnival, it will depend on his progress and the weather here.
‘‘We all believe we’ve got a very smart horse and all the form around him is excellent.’’
Keeninsky seven-year-old mare Katie Mckeen could be lining up for her last race at her home track at New Plymouth today.
The Gary Mcbeth-trained runner will be backing up after her disappointing run in the Listed Wanganui Cup on Saturday.
Mcbeth said the mare just hasn’t come right since returning from an enforced spell last year.
‘‘She hurt a tendon before her last race last year. That’s okay now, but I’m struggling to get her right.
‘‘She got away from me in the summer, she got too fat and I’ve been struggling to get it off her.
‘‘She’s well enough in herself, it’s just she might have lost the spirit to win.’’
Mcbeth said it may be her last race depending on how she runs, with a view to breeding from the eight-time winning mare.
‘‘We’ll find out tomorrow, we’ll do our best and see how she goes.’’
Mcbeth said he was delighted with her stablemate Sakura’s standout win at Wanganui on Saturday.
The Mr Nancho mare ran very wide for the majority of the race and still scored by nearly twolengths over runner-up Blackgammon.
‘‘She drew fifteen, so she was going to be fairly wide. She has been wide in her last three races and still done well.’’