{"id":294323,"date":"2023-11-06T02:54:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T02:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=294323"},"modified":"2023-11-06T02:54:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T02:54:10","slug":"this-horse-didnt-race-for-three-years-250000-later-its-back-for-another-shot-at-the-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/horse-racing\/this-horse-didnt-race-for-three-years-250000-later-its-back-for-another-shot-at-the-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"This horse didn\u2019t race for three years. $250,000 later, it\u2019s back for another shot at the Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Three years ago, Ashrun had a hole in his tendon so big, his owners thought there was no hope he would race again.<\/p>\n

The stayer had suffered what syndicator Jamie Lovett \u2013 a director with Australian Bloodstock, which has syndicated well over 200 horses \u2013 described as \u201cone of the worst tendon injuries I\u2019ve seen\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ashrun takes a dip before the Melbourne Cup.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Joe Armao<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hole was that big, that\u2019s why I thought we were no hope of getting him back,\u201d Lovett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you do them and an owner asks how long, I always say you\u2019re not half pregnant, you either do a tendon or not, and it takes at least 12 months. You never get them back any earlier. It doesn\u2019t matter how minimal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you blow a hole like Ashrun did I never thought for one minute he was coming back as a racehorse.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, the eight-year-old will run in the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

It has been a long journey back for Ashrun. His owners sent him to thoroughbred rehab guru Lee Evison, a former trots trainer who now makes a living mending damaged ligaments and tendons in horses. He was the man responsible for repairing 2019 Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare, who suffered a career-threatening injury in 2021.<\/p>\n

Lovett figures he and Ashrun\u2019s owners spent close to $250,000 rehabilitating their galloper, not with the view of racing again but so he could recover sufficiently to become an event horse in his retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just trying to get him back, spend some money to rehome him,\u201d Lovett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get a training bill every month. If a trainer is charging us eight, nine [thousand] a month, over a year, it wouldn\u2019t be outrageous to say it\u2019d be $250,000 over the three years to get him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst, Evison rated Ashrun\u2019s tendon injury a \u201csolid eight\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had [horses] that are worse, but those we only rehab to be rehomed, not to race,\u201d Evison said. \u201cIt was very severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike broken legs, tendon injuries are not life-threatening for a horse, but realigning the fibres is a long and arduous process, requiring hundreds of kilometres of slow trotting over several months.<\/p>\n

Evison uses a jogger, a specialised trailer towed behind a vehicle, to exercise four-legged patients around his 1000-metre sand track at his Oakland Lodge property in Longwarry in Gippsland.<\/p>\n

The soft impact of the sand helps strengthen the tendon to the point where it can withstand the stresses of racing, while the long, slow work maintains a fitness base so they do not need too much work to be ready to race again. Evison had Ashrun for about nine months, clocking close to 1000 kilometres.<\/p>\n

The European import had other problems, developing an abscess that \u201cblew a part of his heel off\u201d, Evison said.<\/p>\n

As Ashrun was being rehabilitated, the sport came under increased scrutiny after a spate of horse deaths in the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really good story for the once-a-year antis,\u201d Lovett said. \u201cIf they only knew how much people do care, how invested they are and how much money they put into their horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not until autumn this year when Lovett sensed there was a chance Ashrun could race again. Initially, he thought Ashrun had a future over the jumps on the remote chance they got him sound again, but the bar was raised after a trial in September.<\/p>\n

Though he ran last of seven, he was beaten just on seven lengths by subsequent Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight over 1190 metres.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was entitled to get beaten 20 [lengths],\u201d Lovett said.<\/p>\n

In his three runs back after 1048 days out, Ashrun has steadily improved as he was stepped up in distance, his best effort coming last start when he ran second in the Geelong Cup.<\/p>\n

The bookies have Ashrun as a $41 chance but, based on his 10th in 2020 behind Twilight Payment, Lovett is confident he will be competitive. Three years ago, he had too much ground to make up but clocked the second-fastest final 600 metres of the race. The quickest home? Champion mare Verry Elleegant, who won the Cup the following year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll run two miles, he\u2019s down on the limit with a world-class rider [Kerrin McEvoy] who has won the race three times,\u201d Lovett said. \u201cHe needs to be in the firing line. He\u2019s not a turn of foot horse, a bit of a grinder. I think he\u2019s an absolute top-six chance in a year that is pretty even.\u201d<\/p>\n

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