Melbourne spring carnival plans for Queenslander Carry Me Bluey have been shelved but trainer Norm Hilton still has high aspirations in the coming weeks for stablemate Bold Glance.
Carry Me Bluey suffered a minor leg injury which forced Hilton to scratch him from the Doomben meeting on August 4.
“He gave his leg a bit of a knock and there was a bit of heat and swelling so I’ve had to pull the pin,” Hilton said.
“It was a shame it happened on the eve of the race at Doomben because it ended up being a five-horse field.
Carry Me Bluey was being aimed at the Melbourne spring carnival but Hilton will delay the five-year-old’s return to racing until the end of the year.
“There’s no problem with him long term,” he said.
“He could race tomorrow if I wanted to, but I thought I’d give him four to six weeks in the paddock and let him have a good break.
“The Summer Series later in the year will be ideal races for him to aim at.”
While spring plans are off the table for Carry Me Blue, stablemate Bold Glance will continue his Epsom Handicap build-up in a Gold Coast barrier trial on Tuesday.
“After he won at Doomben I took him out to the farm for a few days to freshen up and he’s done really well,” Hilton said.
The Group Two Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Warwick Farm on August 25 is pencilled in as Bold Glance’s first appearance in Sydney during the carnival.
The 2011 Doncaster Mile placegetter’s primary goal during the spring is the Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick on October 6.
Bold Glance was ridden by apprentice Anthony Allen when he won at Doomben on July 28, but premier Brisbane jockey Chris Munce will be aboard in the Warwick Stakes.
The gelding has endured bone-chip and throat operations in the past 12 months but Hilton believes the seven-year-old is racing as well as ever.
