Spechenka's winter campaign has been pushed back by at least a week due to injury

Queenslander Spechenka was due to have his first run in the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival this weekend, but his start has had to be forced back due to a minor injury.

The five-year-old gelding was kicked by a stable mate at his home in Beaudesert, and will now most likely make his return in the Lord Mayor’s Cup next weekend.

“He copped a kick from a workmate on Monday and had a bit of a cut to his hock which we had to treat with antibiotics so we had to delay his kick-off point for another couple of weeks,” trainer Ben Ahrens said.

“The x-ray showed everything to be clear – it was just a cut to the skin and everything seems to be fine now.”

Spechenka finished first in the Group 3 Summer Cup at Randwick last start and will come back to the Lord Mayor’s Cup after having almost five months off.

Aherns will run Spechenka in the Lord Mayor’s Cup in preparation for longer races later in the carnival.

“Unfortunately the Lord Mayors is weight-for-age but there aren’t too many options around for him, then after that we might have to run in the O’Shea Stakes which is another weight-for-age race,” Aherns said.

“Beyond that he’ll either go to the Brisbane Cup or miss that and look at the Ipswich Cup or the Caloundra Cup.”