Dubai carnival contender Super Jockey has been sidelined indefinitely with a tendon injury with trainer Tony Millard offering no timeline on when his dirt and sand track star might return.
Super Jockey was set for a third start in the Group One Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan in March but the eight-year-old hurt his left front tendon at trackwork earlier this week.
“He has given himself a knock to the tendon and we need some time to assess before we work out what the exact nature of the injury is,” Millard said. “Dubai is out. We need to look at it closer before we decide what we do next.”
Millard wouldn’t be drawn on whether the injury was career threatening or if the gelding would now be set for a swansong in Seoul later this year and a shot at a second straight Korea Sprint.
“We’ve always been very conservative with this horse, he isn’t easy to train, so we won’t start rushing him now,” Millard said. “Let’s just wait and see.”
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Hong Kong should still have strong numbers for the rich meeting on March 25, but Chris So Wai-yin’s Fabulous One is the only horse entered for races in the lead-up to World Cup night.
Fabulous One will press his claims for a trip to Dubai when the 107-rated sprinter contests a Class One on the dirt at Sha Tin on Wednesday night.
“He will need to run well there and then we can sit down with the owners and decide,” said So, who has entered the five-year-old for a 1,200m dirt race at Meydan on February 11, in an effort to push for a place in the Group Three Mahab Al Shimaal and Golden Shaheen.
“I would really like to take him over there, he doesn’t have the rating to get straight into those big races and there are no races for him here anyway.”
Fabulous One won five of eight starts last season, rising 61 ratings points to clinch the Most Improved Horse award.
The son of noted dirt sire Elusive City hasn’t raced this term after being struck down with lameness pre-season and spending more than two months sidelined.
Fabulous One has trialled once for the rare opportunity on the dirt but So admits his horse is behind the eight ball fitness-wise.
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“To be honest he isn’t as fit as he could be and we wish he could have had one more trial, but we didn’t have enough time,” he said of a burgeoning “course specialist” that, surprisingly, has never raced on the all-weather track.
“You can see from his trials and the times he runs that he loves it though.”
Hong Kong holds a host of entries for Dubai World Cup night, with top trainer John Moore leading the way with five.
