Lord Of The Sky will join a field of 12 for the Bletchingly Stakes
Lord Of The Sky is the only new acceptor in the final field of 12 for the rescheduled running of the Group Three Bletchingly Stakes at Sandown.
The 1200m weight-for-age sprint has carried over onto Sunday’s card after being one of five races called off due to strong winds at Caulfield last week.
Adelaide galloper Daytona Grey and the Mick Kent-trained Supido were the only two from last week’s sprint not among the acceptances for Sunday’s race.
Lord Of The Sky was scheduled to run last week, but trainer Robbie Laing decided not to accept following a poor gallop in the lead-up to the race.
“Apart from Jaws Of Steel beating him in the gallop, the thing that alarmed me the most was it took him half-an-hour to recover,” Laing said.
“He pulled-up after the gallop blowing the place down which showed he might have had an upper respiratory problem or a lung infection.
“I thought if he pulled up that bad after an 800-metre gallop, how’s he going to run 1200 metres.”
A blood test taken later in the week confirmed Laing’s suspicion Lord Of The Sky had an infection and the trainer is confident the sprinter has recovered.
Laing said Lord Of The Sky was back to normal after working at Cranbourne on Tuesday when he was ridden by race jockey Arron Lynch.
Importantly for Laing, Lord Of The Sky recovered quickly after the gallop.
Lord Of The Sky will be racing second-up on Sunday after finishing a weakening sixth behind Supido in the Monash Stakes at Caulfield on July 15.
That was his first run in 11 months following a tendon injury.
Lord Of The Sky has excellent second-up credentials, winning four times with one second placing from six tries and has been placed at his only run at Sandown.
Laing says any give in the track, currently rated in the good range, would be a bonus.
Lord Of The Sky has been posted an $18 chance in early markets with the Robert Smerdon-trained Ability the $5 favourite ahead of Lankan Rupee at $5.50.
