Stone bruise troubling Palezza

Press, 7 August 1989, Page 30

Stone bruise troubling Palezza

A decision on whether Palezza will start in the Grand National Hurdles on Wednesday will be made today after the Palatable gelding has had a strong workout at Riccarton. Palezza had to be scratched from the Sydenham Hurdles on Saturday after he developed a stone bruise. “If it were the National today I would probably have started him. But if he ran today it is unlikely he would have been able to run on Wednesday,” Tony Gilles said on Saturday. Yesterday the affected foot had improved considerably. Palezza did light work on the wood-fibre track at Riccarton but will be asked for more this morning. “If he’s feeling it after a gallop it might not be worth worrying about the National,” Gillies said. One of the worst aspects of the Trentham Hurdles winner’s setback is that it has deprived him of a chance to experience the Riccarton brush fences before the National. “That’s a problem but there is nothing we can do about it so there’s no use worrying about it,” Gillies said. Rex Cochrane completed an unwanted “double” for the National meeting when Imperial Guy bled during the running of the Sydenham Hurdles, a fate which also befell The Snob in the Paparua Handicap. Bleeders have a mandatory three-month spell before racing again.

Cochrane lost the services of the early'Grand National Steeplechase favourite, Ocean Guard, with a tendon problem two weeks ago.