Corrie Doon a tribute to skills of Jan and Dave Kerr

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 25

Corrie Doon a tribute to skills of Jan and Dave Kerr

By david McCarthy Should Corrie Doon fail to win the Camla Handicap in his first start for fifteen months at Riccarton tomorrow, it is unlikely his connections will be disappointed. The fact that he is lining up at all is not only a tribute to the skills of horsemanship Dave and Jan Kerr have acquired over the years but is regarded by them as something of a minor miracle. “The wonder is that he is here at all, never mind racing. Time will tell if he stands up and comes back to the form he showed last year but he has done plenty of work and seems okay,” Dave Kerr said yesterday. Disaster struck Corrie Doon high above the Queensland coast last May.

Having established himself as the leading three-year-old staying prospect in the south (along with II Commandante), Corrie Doon had been set for major age events in Brisbane.

Everything went smoothly until the last twenty minutes of the flight when the Pevero gelding went berserk. He crashed right through his box and threatened to hand himself such was the crazy angle he finished at. “He was in such a mess I thought it was the finish for him. His ears were blocked but I think he might have “popped” his ears like humans do because he had been as good as gold until then,” Kerr said. Corrie Doon was stitched up immediately on landing and, by a turn

of good fortune he was able to be transported back to New Zealand, by plane, almost immediately.

“If we have not been able to get him on straight away like that we may never have got him home,” his trainer said.

However, the worst was yet to come. After a long spell Corrie Doon returned to work but swelling in his legs continued to cause concern.

The stable tried all the new “technology” but found the best treatment was an old fashioned recipe not about to be made public. “His legs are still not , great to look at but they do not seem to bother him,” Kerr said. Last February Corrie Doon won first-up over

1600 m at Riccarton on his way to winning the South Island Three-Year-Old Championship. He was also a desperately unlucky fourth in Montana Bernadino Stakes at Wingatui, the official final of the southern three-year-old series. He has had only five lifetime starts.

Kerr is not predicting tomorrow will see Corrie Doon at his best in spite of his solid work background. He points to the lack of. trials as being against the Pevero gelding. But any horse which comes back from what Corrie Doon has come back from must be accorded respect in any company. If all goes well it will be high class staying fields tested by his spirit before the season is over.