Group One placegetter Bold Glance has cheated retirement and is Epsom Handicap-bound after winning at Doomben on Saturday.
Trainer Norm Hilton has encountered a host of problems with Bold Glance since he finished third to Sacred Choice in last year’s Group One Doncaster Mile at Randwick.
“He put in a couple of poor runs during the winter after he ran third in the Doncaster and I knew there was something troubling him,” Hilton said.
“There were a few bone chips floating around in his fetlocks so he was operated on to clean them out.”
At his next campaign, Bold Glance again required veterinary treatment after his failure in the Gold Coast Stakes in March.
“Dean Tanti got off him after the race and said he was making a gurgling noise so at that stage I was thinking about retiring him because he’s been such a good horse to us,” Hilton said.
“But my vet John Barnwell said the throat operation was a fairly simple procedure and told me there was no reason why he couldn’t keep racing once it was done.”
Hilton again is eyeing another trip to Sydney for the Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick in October.
“He’s getting back to near his best form again and I’ll look around for another race down there before he runs in the Epsom,” Hilton said.
Ridden by in-form apprentice Anthony Allen, Bold Glance ($4.80) burst through a gap at the 100m to defeat River Lad ($9) by a half length with the favourite Signified ($4.20) 1-1/4 lengths away third.
Retirement plans are also on hold for Bold Glance’s stablemate Norocos after she also won at the meeting.
“They’re a long-time retired and she’s going so well at the moment so she’ll keep racing,” Hilton said.
