The racing future of dual hemisphere Group One winner Reliable Man will become clearer this week when scans are taken of his injured leg.
The 2011 French Derby winner scored an upset win over three-year-old It’s A Dundeel in last month’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes at just his second Australian start.
The elation turned to despair when the five-year-old started limping shortly after he crossed the line amid fears he had suffered a career-ending tendon injury.
But trainer Chris Waller says things are not as gloomy as first thought and, all going well, he hopes he can get Reliable Man back for the spring.
“He will hopefully be scanned late in the week,” Waller said.
“The swelling has almost gone and his foot’s come right.
“The problem is in the bottom part of the tendon but I’m told it could be a form of tendonitis.
“I certainly hope it is not as serious as we feared because he I think he is a serious Cox Plate horse.”
Waller’s success with imports began around five years ago when he sourced tried horses from Europe to bolster his stable, particularly in winter distance races.
The horses he bought originally cost less than the yearlings he wanted to buy locally but with many Australian’s now looking overseas, prices have sky rocketed.
Waller still selects a group at the Tattersall’s sale in England at the end of the year, but Reliable Man came to him independently.
The horse is raced by a syndicate which includes prominent racing identities Rob Ferguson and Gerard Peterson.
“He wasn’t a horse we picked out,” Waller said.
“The owners selected him and brought him here and I’m glad to have a horse of his quality in the stable.”
