Doubt cast on Aegon’s spring campaign

[Wandering Eyes]

The immediate prospects for high-class New Zealand galloper Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) will be decided over the next ten days after the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained four-year-old suffered a bleeding incident in Saturday’s Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.

The Sacred Falls four-year-old looked to be a distinct winning prospect for rider Luke Currie when he ranged up alongside pacemaker and eventual winner Incentivise (Shamus Award) at the 400m, before dropping out quickly to beat just one runner home.

A subsequent examination identified bleeding in a single nostril, but after being scoped by the Racing Victoria veterinarian team on course, it was announced the horse would not be classified as a bleeder and that he was free to race on over the spring.

The normal procedure for a bleeding attack is for a horse to be stood down from racing for a mandatory three-month period, which would have put paid to any further spring targets, however under the ruling given that is not the case for Aegon.

Forsman, who watched the race back in New Zealand, was understandably a little confused how the situation has unfolded.

“When you can’t be on-course you find it hard to get a handle on it all from back here in Cambridge,” he said.

“Luke said the horse was travelling like the winner and then he just started to give ground.

“When they said he had blood in a nostril I thought that would be it for the spring, but then we were told it wasn’t going to be classified as a bleeding attack.

“I had our people, who were with the horse, clarify the ruling as we needed to know where we stood before we make any further plans for him.”

The subsequent stewards report stated that a post-race veterinary examination identified the presence of blood at one or both nostrils. In the opinion of the veterinary surgeon, such bleeding was attributed to external trauma.

Forsman advised the horse would now return home to New Zealand for a short break where he would be monitored and scoped fully again before a decision on whether they would continue the planned assault on the A$7.5million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick on October 30.

“He’s going to come home now and have some time in a paddock so we can assess him,” Forsman said.

“We’ll give him a gallop and get him scoped again and then make a decision on a Golden Eagle start.

“We want to make sure everything is clear before we press on and if it’s not then he can go out for a good break.”

In the meantime, Forsman is looking ahead to the start of the Hastings Spring carnival next Saturday with runners in two of the three feature races on the day.

“We might end up taking three down to Hastings, but it will depend on how the track comes up,” he said.

“We are planning to run Turn The Ace in the El Roca Trophy (Listed, 1200m) and Mustang Valley in the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr.3, 1200m), while Spring Delight could also resume in a rating 74 1400 contest.

“We want to keep an eye on the weather though, as if it gets wet and the track comes up in the Slow to Heavy range then Turn The Ace might stay home.

“Mustang Valley won’t mind some give in the ground, but Turn The Ace wants a decent surface and it could really screw up our spring plans if he has a gut buster first up.”

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