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Spring plans for Brisbane Cup winner Sixties Groove are in abeyance after suffering a setback in last Friday's Wyong Gold Cup.
Sixties Groove Sixties Groove was strongly supported to win the Wyong Cup (2100m) at his first start since his win in the G2 Brisbane Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm in June.
However he was never a factor, trailing the field from the start and beating only the Kiwi stayer Blue Breeze – also under a cloud after he was eased out of the race – to the line.
After the race trainer Kris Lees reported to the stewards that he had found Sixties Grove to be mildly bilaterally lame.
Stewards subsequently advised Lees that they will require a full veterinary clearance before permitting Sixties Groove to race or barrier trial, placing uncertainty over where Lees is heading with the stayer.
The $200,000 Newcastle Cup (2300m) on September 20 was the next race Lees had on the agenda for Sixties Groove heading towards the G1 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick on October 5.
Kiwi trainer Andrew Morley had the same program mapped out for Blue Breeze but he also had concerns after the Auckland Cup placegetter was eased out of the Wyong Cup over the last 400m, finishing more than 40 lengths from the winner Wu Gok.
A post-race veterinary examination of the gelding did not reveal any abnormalities but Morley was told that the gelding would be required to barrier trial to the satisfaction of the stewards prior to racing again.
Meanwhile trainer Tony McEvoy says his star mare Sunlight had pulled up satisfactorily after finishing fifth in the G3 Concorde Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
After the race Racing NSW vets found the four-year-old mare to be 1/5 lame in the off foreleg but McEvoy found no underlying issues with the mare on Sunday.
She is subject to a vet clearance but McEvoy said he intends to give Sunlight her next start in the G2 The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick on September 21 on her way to the $13 million Everest on October 19.
Sunlight's rider Luke Currie said Sunlight may have knocked a leg when she made the home turn awkwardly in the Concorde Stakes and added that she would derive fitness benefit from the performance.
In other key post race reports from the Randwick meeting on Saturday:
UNFORGOTTEN: A post-race veterinary examination after the G2 Chelmsford Stakes revealed no abnormalities but trainer Chris Waller has been asked to report on her post-race condition.
CON TE PARTIRO: She was a late scratching from the Chelmsford Stakes at the barrier after she kicked out and made contact with the barrier while being loaded. She sustained multiple lacerations to the near hock inj the incident and a veterinary clearance will be required prior to the mare trialling or racing again.
PENSKE: A post-race veterinary examination after the Tramway Stakes revealed the gelding to be 2/5 lame in the near foreleg. A vet clearance is required prior to the gelding trialling or racing again.
