A horse feared drowned after being washed away during the January floods in southeast Queensland will continue his courageous fightback at Doomben on Saturday.
Publican, a three-year-old trained by Peter Hulbert at Eagle Farm, produced a fairytale maiden win at his first start for nearly 12 months at Ipswich last month.
The son of All Bar One strolled home by three lengths at only his third appearance and will line up in the Club Super Handicap (1010m) at Doomben.
Hulbert will never forget a phone call he received from owner Mark Timms to tell him Publican had been swept more than a kilometre away from his property at Samford, north of Brisbane, during the floods.
“That night when the flood went through the owners went to get him but the water just rose too quickly,” Hulbert said.
“Before they knew it there was six foot of water coming down and they had to get out of the way themselves and within a matter of minutes he and another horse got washed down the creek.”
Publican was found the next morning but was not in good shape.
“They found him about one and a half kilometres away on the bank of a creek,” Hulbert said.
“He had to be pushed back in so they could swim him to an area to get out.
“The injuries he had were horrific. You could see the bone and the tendon in his back leg from the hock down to the fetlock.
“His knee was ripped open and he had two puncture wounds in his shoulder.
“You could put a hose at the top and watch the water run out the bottom.”
Hulbert said Publican’s leg blew up and it was feared he wouldn’t race again.
Vets from the local Samford clinic treated Publican daily for several months before he eventually showed signs of making a full recovery.
“By the end of June he was starting to run about a bit,” Hulbert said.
“Mark runs a trucking business and he used to get up early every day to look after him before going to work.”
It was a tearful ending to the near tragedy when both Hulbert and Timms became emotional following Publican’s victory at Ipswich.
“When he went past the post all I could remember was the first day when I held him for the vet with his leg and bone exposed,” Hulbert said.
Hulbert believes if it wasn’t for Publican’s heart he wouldn’t be around to chase his goal of the Magic Millions Trophy at the Gold Coast in January.
“I think he’s got a good chance on Saturday,” Hulbert said.
“He’s only tiny, about 15 hands, but he’s got a big heart.
“He’s just meant to be here.”
AAP TURF
