Wodonga master trainer Brian Cox has been forced to delay a return to the city with his slick sprinter Sumakaray.
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Sumakaray was nominated to contest a race for three-year-old fillies at Caulfield last Saturday but didn’t run after Cox discovered the filly was suffering from tying-up.
Tying-up is not uncommon in horses and is a disease in which they become stiff in the limbs while performing exercise, or soon afterwards.
“It’s only a minor hiccup with a mild case of lactic acid build-up and tying-up,” Cox said.
“I’m fairly confident that we detected the problem early enough and are on top of it.
“It can become a major problem if left untreated.
“We have tinkered with her feed and if everything goes to plan she will go around at Caulfield on February 9.”
Sumakaray stamped herself as one of Victoria’s most promising sprinting fillies with an ultra-impressive last-start victory at Moonee Valley in late December.
Despite being trapped four-wide without cover for most of the race, the daughter of Manner Hill overcame the wide run to defeat a quality field of fillies and mares and notch her fourth win from five career starts.
A $5500 bargain from the 2011 Inglis Melbourne Autumn Yearling Sale, Sumakaray has earned close to $110,000 in prizemoney.
The plumb ride on Sumakaray at Caulfield will be up for grabs due to Leeton apprentice John Kissick being suspended.
Kissick partnered Sumakaray to her past two victories, at Moonee Valley and Wodonga.
“If John was available he would have retained the mount,” Cox said.
“But unfortunately for him he has been rubbed out.
“I haven’t decided on a replacement yet but it’s a bit like a game of footy in that I will throw on whoever is performing the best.
“Craig Williams and Glen Boss have already offered their services but we will just wait and see.”
Stablemate Chinzia was also a scratching from Caulfield last Saturday when weights were raised after the non-acceptance of several of the top-weighted nominations.
Chinzia has instead been nominated for a race at Moonee Valley on Friday night, with Boss booked to ride.