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Rocket Man Sidelined Following Injury - 07-09-09
July 9 - Horseracing fans in Singapore were disappointed to hear that sprint sensation, Rocket Man, will be out of racing for at least six months after sustaining a leg injury on Tuesday morning during a routine workout. The 3-year-old gelding has already undergone surgery to repair a hairline fracture to his right foreleg.
Said his trainer, Patrick Shaw, 'Rocket Man was out to do two rounds of light work, quickening up in the second lap, but Robbie (Fradd) just felt there was something wrong with him. As a result, he prevented him from striding up and kept a tight hold of him before dismounting and leading him back to the stables.'
X-rays were taken of the gelding's leg which revealed that he had a hairline fracture in the cannon bone of his off-side foreleg. Shortly afterwards he underwent surgery, and his recovery time is expected to take up to half a year. This has comes as a big blow considering the thoroughbred has been in top form of late.
Most recently he narrowly missed out on victory in the 1200m KrisFlyer International Sprint (Gr 1) on May 17 at the Kranji Racecourse. Before that, he won the 1200m Lion City Cup (Gr 1) on March 27 at Kranji. Interestingly, the root of Rocket Man's injury can be traced back to a race on Polytrack in February.
The gelding jumped the lights following the race in question and landed awkwardly. 'I think jumping the lights that night was where his problem started and I said to Ricky (Ricardo Le Grange, assistant trainer) at the time that I think this might come back to haunt us at some point. Unfortunately I turned out to be right.'
Rocket Man was next scheduled to compete in the Japan's prestigious 1200m Sprinters Stakes (Gr 1) in October at Nakayama Racecourse. Now, however, his connections will instead be forced to concentrate on ensuring the thoroughbred heals fully so that he can return to racing as soon as possible.
Said Shaw, 'He will have box rest and when the x-rays come back to say the leg has recovered then we will start some light exercise. Some horses recover more quickly than others, just like people. Some get over broken bones quicker than others. We are obviously hoping that Rocket Man is one such horse.'
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| | 2009/11/20 11:35:20 AM |
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