Smart galloper recovering from surgery

Press, 23 September 1988, Page 32

Smart galloper recovering from surgery

By DAVID MCCARTHY After almost giving truth to the time honoured phrase about horses “growing another leg,” the smart galloper Deerstalker is recovering from surgery and is expected to resume work in about four weeks. Deerstalker has been troubling his connections for some time with an apparent soreness which proved difficult to isolate. It was finally discovered that the horse was growing an extra bone in the fetlock and this has been removed. “It was quite a large piece and has obviously been there for some time. Its presence could account for some of the problems he has had in his racing,” said trainer, Jan Hay. Deerstalker is being confined to a box at present but will be able ,to be put on paddock exercise shortly, all going well. His spring campaign has had to be aborted but the resolving of the problem is likely to see him back with a vengeance later in the season. In his best form, such as his gallant charge from a long last in the Lion 1600 m last April, to beat all but Robinski, Deerstalker, winner of the James Hazlett Stakes last December, is one of the best middle-distance prospects in the south. Hay has a big team ready for spring racing and several were on hand at the Ashburton trials on Wednesday. Have It Your Way was impressive as she dropped her rider and galloped a round of the track before the start. She still finished third behind Extra Plush which had also dropped the rider but had rather less exertion later. Hay’s stable produced 23 winners last season putting her in the top 30 trainers in the country with the smallest racing team compared to the other 29. A good winner this season for the stable again looks to be Morgan Page which has progressed satisfactorily since Ashburton in preparation for the Timaru Herald Stakes at the Phar Lap Raceway on October 7.