In more than three decades as a trainer, Mick Price has only seen one other horse suffer the same affliction that has kept Reserve Bank away from the racetrack for almost a year.
The Goodwood winner, who is set to resume in the Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday, returned to the stable for a spring carnival campaign when staff became concerned by his behaviour.
“I walked in at four o’clock one morning and the girls said, ‘come and have a look at this’,” Price said.
“He was absolutely shaking life a leaf on the spot, which was really unusual.
“We couldn’t work it out initially. We thought it might have been a vertebrae problem, but it turned out to be Ross River virus based on his blood picture.”
A mosquito-borne illness usually associated with humans, Ross River virus can also affect horses and symptoms include fever, joint swelling and lethargy.
Price has only seen it in one other horse he has trained and says while that galloper never reproduced its best form afterwards, Reserve Bank’s recovery has been different and the signs much more positive.
“It was a horse called Blazing Harry. He came back and he did not race well, and he didn’t look to bloom,” Price said.
“I don’t have much experience or knowledge with it. I don’t know what to expect. But Blazing Harry, he didn’t have a lot of life looking at him, and this horse looks beautiful.
“I think he just needs racing.”
A four-year-old, Reserve Bank strung together a hat-trick of stakes wins last autumn, culminating in his Goodwood victory.
While he has a dynamic fresh record, Price is expecting him to need the hit-out on Saturday and he isn’t he sold on the horse’s low draw in barrier two.
“The horse is going super, but I can’t picture how he wins a The Galaxy from that inside gate, first-up after a long time,” he said.
“He’s a four-year-old bull. I’m just looking for him to run well and please, and then I’ll work out a program.”
“He just needs to go to the races to bring him on.”
Damian Lane partners Reserve Bank, who is being kept safe as an $8.50 chance in an open betting race.
