Last Sunday, Taree trainer Ross Stitt cursed Clan McClymont as he writhed in pain after the five-year-old gelding caught him unawares and smashed his right forearm in two places.
A week on and the astute trainer will be cheering for the horse in Sunday’s $20,000 Bowraville Cup (1370m).
“The bugger definitely owes me,” Stitt said.
“He (Clan McClymont) really did a job on me – both bones in my forearm were smashed.
“I was leading a horse off the walker, all of a sudden a couple of horses got frightened and Clan McClymont cow-kicked me.
“I can tell you, it wasn’t pretty and the pain, well, you could imagine.
“Back to reality, wet weather and horses.”
It was a rude awakening for Stitt who had just returned from an 18-day England and France holiday with friends and stable clients, taking in the English Derby and an all-jumps meeting in France.
Stitt managed to find a lighter side to the painful mishap.
“I know the horse is very well, strong as an ox, that much I do know,” he said.
“It’s funny. One minute he’s my worst nightmare, the next I’m in his corner, hoping he can win the Bowraville Cup.
“Clan McClymont worked a treat Thursday. He’s in very good order.”
Stitt has won the Bowraville Cup on three previous occasions and Clan McClymont is in rich form.
The gelding is chasing a hat-trick of wins after scoring at his home track on May 29 and June 12, both on heavy tracks.
Bowraville, with its undulating track featuring a steep incline going up the back and a downhill run to the winning post, is not for the faint hearted.
Clan McClymont has raced there twice for a second and third.
“Let’s hope there’s a win added to the statistics,” Stitt said.
“He handles the track which is important and Belinda (Hodder) and Clan McClymont get on well together.
“He’s hit good form, hit it at the right time and he’s not too harshly treated at the weights, gets in good I think.”
After Hodder’s two-kilo claim Clan McClymont will carry 55kg.
Following Bowraville, Clan McClymont will attempt back-to-back wins in the $25,000 Maclean Cup (1400m) at Grafton on July 17.
AAP TURF
