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Aloisia primed for Tristarc; Collett injured in race fall

Aloisia primed for Tristarc

Group One winner Aloisia will be looking to recapture her form of last spring when she lines-up in the Gr.2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The daughter of Azamour won the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) and Gr.2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) last season, but hasn’t recorded a victory since then.

“You can pretty much put a pen through all of them (autumn runs) except for the Vinery (where she finished third),” trainer Ciaron Maher said.

“She had a bit of a torrid time with barriers and just ended up in the wrong position.”

Maher was pleased with her fresh-up unplaced run in the Gr.2 Blazer Stakes (1400m) at Flemington earlier this month and believes she should be right in the reckoning on Saturday.

“It was very nice,” he said. “I think she has really come on and she has really brightened up in the coat and her work was nice today. If she sits a bit closer she should finish in the money.

“We have kept her really fresh this time around. Her aim is the Myer (Gr.1, 1600m). She ran really well first-up and I think she has improved. So she is on the right track.”

Collett injured in race fall

Expat Kiwi jockey Alysha Collett has suffered a fractured lower backbone and right heel after a race fall at Kranji racecourse in Singapore on Sunday.

Her charge, Drone, appeared to be squeezed in restricted room between Thunderstruck (Vlad Duric) and Racer King (Daniel Moor) when Collett fell at the 250m mark in a Class 4 Non Premier race over 1000m.

“It happened so quickly. I felt like I was being catapulted,” Collett said.

“I was a bit worried as I was so close to the other two horses and I could get hurt more badly. It was really painful and I couldn’t move much, especially around my back.

“But instinctively, the first thing I did was check if my head was okay, and I remember thinking I was good and then I checked if I could move my limbs, and they were fine.

“So, that was a relief. Still after the X-rays were done at the hospital, they found a fracture to my L1 (lumbar) vertebra and my right heel.

“They also did an MRI on my brain and it was clear. So, under the circumstances, I’m as good as I could possibly be – it could have been worse.”

While Collett awaits her family to fly in from New Zealand, fellow jockeys have been rallying around her, especially fellow Kiwi Craig Grylls and apprentice jockey Zyrul Nor Azman, who Collett knew well from his time honing his craft in New Zealand.