Bruised leg spells end of campaign for Bordeaux
A troublesome bruise on a hind leg has seen the northern and Australian campaigns of top trotter Bordeaux shut down.
The showy chestnut son of Love You broke on the final bend in Sunday’s Gr.2 Trotters Flying Mile at Cambridge when third favourite.
His North Canterbury trainer, Philip Iggo, has opted to treat what he calls a minor leg complaint, but that means a start in this Sunday’s Gr.1 National Trot at Alexandra Park is out of the question.
As is his first Australian campaign, which was to come in January.
‘‘We’ve just had a problem with a hind leg, which we’ve been battling with a bit.
‘‘It shouldn’t be something that will affect his career, but it is effecting him at the moment.
‘‘So, I decided the best thing was to withdraw him this week and I’m then able to treat him properly rather than trying to patch him up and get him through the race.
‘‘He’s bruised the inside of his cannon bone and it’s been there since before the Cambridge race.
‘‘I thought we were able to get through with him by protecting it and treating it with things we could treat it with, but he was feeling it in that race and wasn’t comfortable. He was unhappy on the bends, which is why he broke on that last bend.
‘‘David Butcher was trying to nurse him around to the home straight before he pulled the plugs and he did what he could but he just couldn’t get him around – it was getting too uncomfortable for the horse.’’
A trip across the Tasman is gone, but Iggo has already recalibrated his sights and they are firmly back at Auckland later in the season.
‘‘We’ll race Musculus on Sunday, then head home and then we will have enough time to recover and set our sights on the Rowe Cup in April.’’
Stablemate Musculus has run two good seconds on the north island campaign and Iggo hopes he can go one better on New Year’s Eve.
‘‘We still haven’t got that wretched win (at Alexandra Park).
‘‘Stress Factor is in the race again this week and he was better than us last time.
‘‘We were beaten decisively by a better horse in the two starts, but we also beat the rest of the field decisively as well.
‘‘But we’re pretty close and we should be a serious chance to break our duck this week.’’