Lion Couchant has clawed himself back from a near-death experience and he continues to surprise Hawkesbury trainer Ethne Potowski.
The six-year-old gelding was perilously close to being euthanised four years ago as a crippling case of laminitis left him practically immobile, and in pain.
“He was pretty bad. He couldn’t walk. We were close to putting him down,” Potowski said.
“When he went to be broken in, the breaker said ‘He’ll never win a race’. I’d put him to work and he used to stumble and carry on.
“It took about a year and a half for him to come right. He didn’t race until he was four.”
Perseverance from Potowski and her long-term farrier Mark Colbran ultimately paid off and Lion Couchant lines up in a Benchmark Handicap (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday seeking his third win in his past four starts.
Given his history of foot stress, Potowski tended to limit Lion Couchant to wet tracks but this preparation has been a revelation with his two victories coming on good surfaces at Hawkesbury in May.
“His first two starts were on good tracks and he went all right,” Potowski said.
Lion Couchant was third at Randwick on June 24 over 1000m and Potowski said he would appreciate the likely soft track.
She said his work had been sound in the lead-up to this weekend, although frost-hardened ground at Hawkesbury had not been ideal.
“He was jarred up a little bit but I took him to the track on Tuesday and he felt good,” she said.
Training Lion Couchant has been a labour of love for Potowski, who only has him work since Happy Hustler headed for a spell after racing at Hawkesbury on Sunday.
“I foaled him,” she said.
“He’s been here all his life. He’s only had a day away from the place to go to the races.”
Hawkesbury jockey Tye Angland has also built an affinity with Lion Couchant having steered him to five of his six career wins.
“He knows what he feels like,” Potowski said, “He knows his tricks.”
