Yorkshire’s return to the races didn’t go according to plan, and his trainers are fully prepared for that to make him vulnerable when he steps out next in the Festival Stakes at Rosehill.
The five-year-old was found to be suffering from cardiac arrhythmia after trailing the field home first-up in The Hunter (1300m).
As the winner of six of his previous eight starts, he had been sent around favourite, and while co-trainer John O’Shea didn’t agree with the market’s assessment, he was expecting a much more competitive run.
“There was a lot of market support for him, but it wasn’t stable inspired,” O’Shea said.
“We were adamant the horse needed a run or two, although he was never going to run that badly because he had trialled up really well and was going well at home.
“He definitely had cardiac arrhythmia, but it has rectified and his KPI’s post-that have been excellent.”
Yorkshire will need to tick a few final boxes before he steps out in the Festival Stakes (1500m) on Saturday, but so far the signs point to him being back on track.
Cardiac arrhythmia is a relatively common and often random affliction in racehorses, and many rebound quickly, O’Shea adding that a resaddling procedure behind the barriers at Newcastle might have also upset the gelding.
However, he is adamant Yorkshire’s work since then has been first class and while he expects him to take fitness benefit from Saturday, he is hoping the race can prove a perfect pipe-opener for The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick next month.
“There is no doubt he has got improvement from Saturday,” he said.
“Saturday is about getting back into the game with a positive run and then allowing us the opportunity to bounce off that into The Ingham.”
Despite the stable’s caution, Yorkshire was a $3.20 favourite on Friday with Accredited ($8) and Arctic Glamour ($9.50) the only other runners at single-figure odds.
