RobinFromIreland
04-18-2007, 04:49 PM
From the Racing Post:
DISCREET CAT will not be back in racing action until the second half of the year after his switch from Dubai to the United States was delayed on Wednesday.
Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford reported the colt's recovery from a throat abscess was being continually monitored but progress was “slow” and as a result he would not be shipped to the US until some time next month.
Discreet Cat lost his unbeaten record when finishing last in the Dubai World Cup last month after which connections discovered he had “an aggressive
throat abscess”.
Crisford added: “He is still having treatment and making a slow recovery. We will have to delay his return to the United States and he will stay in Dubai until we can sort this out.
“Any plans we had for him early on in the campaignhave been shelved and that happened straight after the World Cup when we discovered this abscess.”
Before his defeat Discreet Cat, the joint-best three-year-old in the 2006 World Thoroughbred Rankings, had been due to be transferred to his American base this month with the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont among his early targets.
“We are not talking a lengthy delay, just a few weeks, and hopefully he will travel some time next month, depending on how his condition improves,” Crisford said.
“We were looking at the Met Mile at the end of May but that is out of the way now. We won't consider targets until we get him back into training. I'm afraid this will knock him back and it is going to take a few months to get him back on the racetrack. It would be unrealistic to assume he will be racing before the second half of the year.”
Discreet Cat is a 12-1 chance with Coral for the Breeders' Cup Classic, for which Dubai World Cup winner Invasor is 4-1 favourite to win the race for the second year running.
Ashkal Way, another key member of Saeed bin Suroor's US-based team, will also be out of action for a spell after sustaining an injury to his right front tendon.
The five-year-old miler has won his last five races in the USincluding the Citation Handicap in November, but will now have to undergo a period of rehabilitation before he returns to training.
Crisford said: “It is a great shame as we were looking forward to seeing him have another good season in America. We will give him all the time he needs to make a full recovery before he resumes training.”
DUBAI World Cup runner-up Premium Tap, also third in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, will not be returning to the US after his sale to Saudi Arabian interests.
According to the Blood-Horse, the Grade 1-winning five-year-old will not come back to trainer John Kimmel's barn. His owners have decided to keep himin at home in Saudi Arabia ahead of another tilt at the nation's most prestigious race, the King‘s Cup, which he won in February.
The news is a blow to the older-horse division in the States, Premium Tap having shown his talents last term with victories in a pair of Grade 1s, the Woodward and Clark Handicaps.
His placed efforts in the Breeders' Cup and in Dubai, where he forced Invasor to pull out all the stops, confirmed his status as one of the world‘s top performers.
Two words.
Frowny Face.
DISCREET CAT will not be back in racing action until the second half of the year after his switch from Dubai to the United States was delayed on Wednesday.
Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford reported the colt's recovery from a throat abscess was being continually monitored but progress was “slow” and as a result he would not be shipped to the US until some time next month.
Discreet Cat lost his unbeaten record when finishing last in the Dubai World Cup last month after which connections discovered he had “an aggressive
throat abscess”.
Crisford added: “He is still having treatment and making a slow recovery. We will have to delay his return to the United States and he will stay in Dubai until we can sort this out.
“Any plans we had for him early on in the campaignhave been shelved and that happened straight after the World Cup when we discovered this abscess.”
Before his defeat Discreet Cat, the joint-best three-year-old in the 2006 World Thoroughbred Rankings, had been due to be transferred to his American base this month with the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont among his early targets.
“We are not talking a lengthy delay, just a few weeks, and hopefully he will travel some time next month, depending on how his condition improves,” Crisford said.
“We were looking at the Met Mile at the end of May but that is out of the way now. We won't consider targets until we get him back into training. I'm afraid this will knock him back and it is going to take a few months to get him back on the racetrack. It would be unrealistic to assume he will be racing before the second half of the year.”
Discreet Cat is a 12-1 chance with Coral for the Breeders' Cup Classic, for which Dubai World Cup winner Invasor is 4-1 favourite to win the race for the second year running.
Ashkal Way, another key member of Saeed bin Suroor's US-based team, will also be out of action for a spell after sustaining an injury to his right front tendon.
The five-year-old miler has won his last five races in the USincluding the Citation Handicap in November, but will now have to undergo a period of rehabilitation before he returns to training.
Crisford said: “It is a great shame as we were looking forward to seeing him have another good season in America. We will give him all the time he needs to make a full recovery before he resumes training.”
DUBAI World Cup runner-up Premium Tap, also third in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, will not be returning to the US after his sale to Saudi Arabian interests.
According to the Blood-Horse, the Grade 1-winning five-year-old will not come back to trainer John Kimmel's barn. His owners have decided to keep himin at home in Saudi Arabia ahead of another tilt at the nation's most prestigious race, the King‘s Cup, which he won in February.
The news is a blow to the older-horse division in the States, Premium Tap having shown his talents last term with victories in a pair of Grade 1s, the Woodward and Clark Handicaps.
His placed efforts in the Breeders' Cup and in Dubai, where he forced Invasor to pull out all the stops, confirmed his status as one of the world‘s top performers.
Two words.
Frowny Face.