McEvoy thinks Scherzoso could develop into a Caulfield Cup horse next year
Tony McEvoy admits he feared the worst after promising stayer Scherzoso pulled up from his second in the Ballarat Cup with an obvious leg injury.
The five-year-old suffered a trauma on a leg during the November 19 race when a fast-finishing second to all-the-way winner Pilote D’essai.
“He’s a perfectly sound horse but he gave his leg a real whack during that race and it scared the living daylights out of us,” McEvoy said.
“Thankfully it’s only a knock, but knowing tendons as I do, you have to be very careful. If they’ve been disrupted and you work them on them, you can tear them.
“We’ve treated the leg and it’s settled it down.
“We’ve scanned it and it’s fine, but I’m not going to go on with him.
“I think the horse is fine but I’m just going to take the pressure off him for four to six weeks and we’ll plan a program in the later part of the autumn going through to the winter.”
McEvoy said rumours the Adelaide Cup would be transferred from March to May had sparked his interest but the 3200m race will stay where it is for the time being, ruling Scherzoso out.
A veteran of 24 starts, Scherzoso has been successful on five occasions with a further nine placings.
In the meantime McEvoy thinks the gelding could develop into a Caulfield Cup horse next year.
“He’s only a lightly raced horse and I think he just keeps getting better and better all the time,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy will also take his time with Dollar For Dollar who was impressive in scoring a fighting first-up win at the Ballarat Cup meeting.
The trainer will take him through his grades this campaign hoping to build his rating before aiming higher next year.
“He’s come out of the win beautifully and there is a three and four-year-old benchmark 70 race at Flemington on December 10 that will suit him,” McEvoy said.
“We’ll just progress him through the grades this time, let him build a profile and next year he might be a nice horse for us.”
