A training session at Cranbourne combined with x-rays has eliminated the favourite Big Sky from Victoria’s top two-year-old contest.
The colt prepared by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr was the market elect for the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) this Saturday, yet Price expressed dissatisfaction with the colt’s performance during his canter at Cranbourne on Friday morning.
Big Sky received clearance from Racing Victoria veterinarians during Thursday morning’s checks, a process all 20 race entrants underwent prior to the event.
However, within under a day, Price grew concerned about the colt’s movement.
“I had a little canter with him this morning and his action is not what it should be,” Price told SENTrack.
“We know by looking at the data, on Tuesday morning his stride was a little shorter than it should be, but I was looking more at knees this morning and we have had them x-rayed.
“There’s a little bit of immaturity near front, off-front, there’s enough there to say I need a second opinion of what’s going on with that knee.
“We think we can see a small little flake of bone in there.
“I’m not sure we need to do, but what I do know is that horse will not be running on Saturday and will be going to the paddock.”
Price emphasised that whether the event is a Group 1 for juveniles or a straightforward maiden over a mile, every horse under his care receives identical attention.
“I wouldn’t ask any horse to do anything I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with, especially a two-year-old baby,” Price said.
“He’s very talented, he might be a Group 1 horse as a three-year-old.
“Regardless of anything in the future, he will not run tomorrow, and the information is ‘black and white’.
“It is disappointing, but it would be disappointment times ten if I was to run him and get a poor result, number one, and to see him pull-up poorly number two.
“He’s a young horse and we need to look after him.”
Betting markets have adjusted accordingly, with Guest House, the stable companion of Big Sky, now heading the field at $4.60, followed by Unit Five at $5.50 and Closer To Free at $6.50.
Following their examinations, Racing Victoria vets deemed the filly Torture, under the care of Ben, Will and J D Hayes, unfit for competition, whereas Tough Romance, prepared by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, passed without issues.
The Phillip Stokes-trained Stretan Ruler, previously the first reserve, has been pulled out to instead compete in the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill this Saturday.
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