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Collett could face further surgery; Savabeel strikes again at Flemington; Kiwi-breds chasing gold in Singapore;
Collett could face further surgery
A decision on whether Alysha Collett undergoes further surgery is impending as the Pukekohe jockey makes her recovery from a horrific fall in Singapore last month.
Collett has already had surgery to insert two rods and four screws in her lower back to mend a fractured lower vertabra suffered in the fall at Kranji on October 14.
Specialists in Singapore opted to put her fractured heel in a cast but medical opinion in New Zealand could yet suggest Collett has surgery to have screws inserted in her heel bone to aid her recovery, her father Richard said this week.
"She's hobbling around here at home and she's happy to be home but her heel is probably going to take the most time of her recovery," he said.
"She's going to the specialist next Wednesday for her broken heel and they may look at inserting screws.
“She's had that operation on her back to stabilise that with rods and screws but specialists in Singapore didn't think she needed screws in her heel but it's sounding like specialists here think it will help."
Collett had ridden 11 winners during a planned six-month stint in Singapore that began in May.
She had initially needed a wheelchair to help her get around after her operation but was now back on her feet.
She is likely to be off the scene for at least five months.
Savabeel strikes again at Flemington
The Chris Waller-trained Savacool gave her sire Savabeel his third win at this year’s Melbourne Cup carnival when winning the Twitter Trophy (1800m) at Flemington on Thursday.
The Waikato Stud stallion also sired Shillelagh to win the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) on Derby Day, while Kaonic took out the Listed Furphy Plate (1800m) on Cup Day.
Waller trained all three runners and was pleased with the result, having chosen to bring Savacool down to Melbourne from his Sydney base less than a month ago.
“We just pick a few horses out, and she was one of them, about two to three weeks ago that can fly the flag down here,” Waller said.
“Whether you are a trainer, owner or jockey you want to have some representation down here. We’ve picked a pretty good one there and everything worked out well.
“She was a bit further back than what I hoped for, but Kerrin (McEvoy, jockey) was cool and he got to work on her early in the straight and that’s Flemington, you can finish off very well.”
Savacool was purchased by her trainer out of Waikato Stud’s 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale draft for NZ$220,000.
Kiwi-breds chasing gold in Singapore
There will be a six-strong kiwi-bred contingent contesting Sunday’s S$1.35 million Singapore Gold Cup which will be run over the shorter distance of 2000m this year.
Ex-pat New Zealand trainer Stephen Gray has two runners sourced from New Zealand and they have drawn at opposite ends of the barriers.
Sky Rocket has drawn gate five while stablemate Bahana who won the event in 2016, has drawn the widest of Gray’s four runners and will jump from barrier 17.
“Sky Rocket has got a good draw as he can go wherever he wants from there,” Gray said.
“As for Bahana, he can be ridden forward or back, it doesn’t matter. In any case, I’m just happy to have four horses in the Gold Cup, it’s fantastic.”
Lee Freedman was happy with the allocation of gate nine for Mr Clint, who won the Singapore Guineas (1600m) earlier this year.
“It’s a nice gate for Mr Clint. He will go forward as there aren’t too many horses (with speed) on his inside,” Freedman said.
The Triple Crown Series will remain unclaimed after Debt Collector was withdrawn from Sunday’s marquee event. The Cliff Brown-trained six-year-old was touted as a hot chance to rewrite history after he claimed the first two legs, the Raffles Cup (1600m) and Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m).
