Hay List has taken the next step in his comeback without incident, winning a barrier trial at Randwick on Monday.
Trainer John McNair didn’t have the best vantage point to see the trial but was more concerned with being on hand when the horse came off the track.
Hay List winning the Lexus Newmarket Handicap at Flemington - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
The injury-prone sprinter was given the all-clear by vets after beating Fontelina in the 800m heat on the course proper before travelling home to the Central Coast.
“I couldn’t be happier. He got through everything in great shape,” McNair said.
“I still haven’t seen the actual trial. All I could see from where I was, was how he jumped and how he pulled up which was the main thing.
“(Vets) Craig Suann and Nick Kannegieter checked him over and they were happy.
“It’s a big day out for the horse and it’s good to get there and back safely.”
The winner of last year’s Newmarket Handicap, Hay List was rated the second best sprinter in the world for 2012 behind Black Caviar.
He hasn’t been seen since running second to three-year-old Foxwedge in the weight-for-age William Reid Stakes in March.
Hay List has won 15 of his 23 starts, including three Group Ones, in a career littered with injury and feet problems.
His latest setback was the most serious with the gelding injuring his leg when he slipped as he tried to stand up after an emergency colic operation in April.
“Hopefully all his bad luck is over now,” McNair said.
Hay List weighs in at 612kg and McNair would like to get him to around 605kg before his planned return in the Group Two Challenge Stakes on March 16.
“He will have another trial at Warwick Farm next week,” he said.
“It’s three weeks to the Challenge so I’d like to bring him back to Sydney and maybe give him a gallop on a raceday to get the juices flowing.”
