Chris Waller’s Cox Plate dream is over for this year with the well-fancied My Kingdom Of Fife ruled out for the rest of the spring carnival through injury.
Waller had scans done on My Kingdom Of Fife on Tuesday and made the decision to pull him out of the spring when the results came in on Wednesday.
My Kingdom Of Fife, a Group One weight-for-age winner in the autumn, scored a convincing victory in last Saturday’s Craven Plate at Randwick and was set to have his next start in the Cox Plate.
Waller said My Kingdom Of Fife was also in grave doubt for next year’s autumn carnival with the likelihood he’ll give the gelding plenty of time to recover and have a real crack at next year’s spring carnival.
“There was a decision to make but I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable going down there (to Melbourne) just knowing he wasn’t 100 per cent right,” Waller said.
“He didn’t pull up 100 per cent on Saturday, we gave him anti-inflammatories on Saturday night and he was fine on Sunday morning.
“He went to the beach the next couple of days and just yesterday morning I wasn’t entirely happy with him and we did some X-rays and scans.”
Waller said the problem with the imported galloper was coming from his feet.
“It’s coming from his feet and he’s just got a bit of swelling in his fetlocks as well,” he said.
My Kingdom Of Fife, a horse formerly owned by the Queen, burst onto the scene in Australia with wins in the Doncaster Prelude and Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick during the autumn.
He then added the Hollindale Stakes in Queensland before finishing second in the Doomben Cup.
My Kingdom Of Fife raced twice this spring, finishing second in the Chelmsford Stakes first-up before his comfortable win in the Craven Plate.
Waller said he “doesn’t like putting a band aid on things” and would give My Kingdom Of Fife the time needed to return in top form.
“I think we’d struggle to get him back for the autumn because if you think about it you’re only really going to have six or eight weeks in the paddock to be ready for February,” he said.
“I know he’s not getting any younger but he’s relatively lightly raced and to me he’s a young horse, so I think you’re better off to give him a lot longer and aim for the spring and have a full crack at the spring.”
While Waller will be without a Cox Plate runner, he has Hawk Island heading to the Caulfield Cup but Metropolitan winner The Verminator will miss the Caulfield Cup and be aimed at the Melbourne Cup.
“He’s definitely not going to run in the Caulfield Cup, he’s more than likely going to run in the Mackinnon and then the Melbourne Cup,” Waller said of The Verminator.
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