Talented mare Griante has been ruled out of the 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes after being found with heat in the back of her pastern.
Griante will not make the trip to Adelaide for the 2015 Robert Sangster Stakes due to injury. Photo by: Steve Hart
Griante stamped herself as a horse to follow when she recorded three straight wins due a winter preparation a year ago and she took out the Group 3 Series Final (1200m) at Caulfield during the 2014 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, but she has gone to another level since returning to the races for an autumn preparation.
The Good Journey mare returned to the races in the Group 3 Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 14 and a lack of race fitness told in the final stages, but she was still able to battle home bravely to finish fourth.
Griante had no luck in running whatsoever in the early stages of the Group 3 Wenona Girl Quality (1200m) at Royal Randwick on March 7 and she was forced to do plenty of work by jockey Hugh Bowman, but she responded extremely well when asked for an extra effort to record an impressive win.
Trainer David Brideoake elected to send Griante back to Melbourne for the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on March 27 and she produced the most impressive performance of her career to date to finish a strong third behind Lucky Hussler and Vain Queen.
Despite her impressive William Reid Stakes effort, Griante went into the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes (1200m) at a quote of $7 and she looked like the winner at the 200 metre mark, but was unable to hold off a gallant Avoid Lightning in the final stages of the race.
Griante’s performances during the autumn convinced Brideoake that she was worthy of a trip to Adelaide for the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on May 2, but Brideoake told Racing.Com this morning that he had been forced to call off the trip after his star mare was found to be sore in her pastern.
“The level of damage is very minor but she had some heat in the back of her pastern and she’ll go to the paddock now,” Brideoake said.
“There’s no hole in the tendon behind the pastern but we’re just putting her away to be very conservative.
“We were very early on the diagnosis so there’s been no major damage done so we’re confident we’ll have a horse for the spring.”
Griante has already put together an impressive resume for a future career as a broodmare, but Brideoake believes that the mare will return to racing as a five-year-old and be set for a 2015 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival campaign.
