Talk Of The Town out of action
TALK OF THE TOWN, ante-post favourite for the CTS 1600 until his surprise scratching two days before the $500 000 race, will be out of action for between six and 12 months.
Joey Ramsden explained: “He put a hole in his tendon sheath just above his nearfore fetlock joint.”
Mayfair Speculators
The injury is tough on the Truters and Avontuur who bought the Var colt from Mayfair Speculators shortly before he won his third race off the reel on the eve of the Queen’s Plate.
Let It Rain, who gave Dan Katz his first Graded winner when getting the better of a final furlong battle with Master’s Eye in last Saturday’s Heineken Cape Stayers, now goes to Johannesburg to rejoin Weiho Marwing.
Katz said: “The horse was sent to me for the Cape season and winning a Grade 2 for Hassen Adams on Met day was mission accomplished so far as I was concerned. Weiho will aim him at the Gold Cup.”
Traces, the Australian-bred who sprang a 16-1 surprise in the Tattersalls Summer Juvenile Stakes, started favourite but managed only fifth on debut three weeks earlier.
The explanation is unusual to say the least. Brett Crawford said: “We fancied him that day but he is blind in one eye and he was drawn on the outside. As a result he couldn’t see the others and he didn’t know what was going on!”
Agent Of Fortune
Agent Of Fortune, who made a winning debut at 11-1 in the valuable Kuda Sprint, was one of those mildly affected by that respiratory virus that hit some of the Vaughan Marshall stable earlier in the month. Marshall said: “We backed off him when we were taking all those precautions but his work since was very good.”