Sheik's Star Likely To Miss Big One
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday October 31, 2008
JUST when it seemed the world-famous Godolphin stable had the right horse for the Melbourne Cup, its Caulfield Cup winner All The Good has been struck down with an injury that will almost certainly keep him out of the race.
At Sandown yesterday, Godolphin's head trainer Saeed bin Suroor was resigned to All The Good most likely missing Tuesday's race after he was found to be sore in the fetlock joint of the right foreleg."We don't know what the problem is but he's a little bit stiff in the leg," bin Suroor said.He said there was no swelling in the leg, and initial X-rays had not revealed any bone damage. More X-rays were taken late yesterday."We should know more tonight or in the morning," bin Suroor said.Victorian chief steward Terry Bailey, who was advised of the problem on Wednesday night, was at Sandown yesterday to inspect the horse.Bailey said Racing Victoria vets would today inspect All The Good and English stayer Yellowstone, who had suffered a bruised hip earlier in the week but appears to have made a good recovery."We want to check on any horse with problems because there's no provision for emergencies in the Melbourne Cup, so it's important that those horses paid up for are fit to run," Bailey said.All The Good was reportedly suffering from some muscle stiffness after the Caulfield Cup and had been given an easy time on the track since that race.Bin Suroor, who arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday, said the horse "seemed fine" when he saw him on Wednesday, but concerns about his condition arose later in the day.Godolphin's injury woes in the Melbourne Cup stretch back to their second visit in 1999, when then ruling favourite and topweight Kayf Tara broke down on the Wednesday before the race.If All The Good is unable to start in the Cup, it will ensure that the Luca Cumani-trained Bauer will be in the field no matter what happens at Flemington tomorrow, with the Saab winner exempt from any ballot.Bauer did not go on the track yesterday with stablemate Mad Rush, and Cumani said the horse was restricted to being hand-led in the compound after his gallop with Mad Rush on Wednesday."He's fine, just where I want him at this stage," Cumani said.Mad Rush was very much on his toes in his usual two canters with Francesca Cumani in the saddle.The Aidan O'Brien entourage in Melbourne has grown considerably with the arrival of two of the main men from Coolmore, Tom Magnier and Derrick Smith, and the jockeys riding their three Melbourne Cup hopes.Johnny Murtagh (Septimus), Colm O'Donoghue (Honolulu) and Wayne Lordan (Alessandro Volta) will test their mounts in a gallop this morning.Murtagh said he would prefer a good pace for Cup favourite Septimus but the horse was very adaptable and "relaxes very well".Jockey John Egan and trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam had a mid-track conference after Yellowstone, who missed some work earlier in the week because of that bruised hip, galloped 1000 metres in evens yesterday. Egan said Yellowstone "felt fine" and was back on track to run in the Cup.Chapple-Hyam is hoping to get the all-clear to take Yellowstone to Flemington for a gallop tomorrow morning.The Dermot Weld-trained Profound Beauty and French mare Varevees, trained by Richard Gibson, are expected to gallop together at Sandown this morning. Both are doing extremely well, and Dave Phillips, the handler of Profound Beauty, could not be happier with his mare.Meanwhile, regulators in NSW are set to increase drug-testing with the blood booster EPO now very much a target. In Melbourne, Cox Plate-winning trainer Mark Kavanagh, who has Whobegotyou set to start a red zone favourite in tomorrow's Victoria Derby, had his Flemington stables raided by southern stewards and their veterinarians on Wednesday.Following a meeting between Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys, chief steward Ray Murrihy, the regulator's vet, Craig Suann, and Andrew Vadasz, boss of the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory, new, highly sensitive EPO testing kits have been bought."We will be ramping up out-of-competition testing as we believe that provides the best opportunity of finding these substances," Murrihy said yesterday.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
