Via Michael Lee, Singapore Turf Club
A minor setback has forced Top Knight out of this year’s Singapore Triple Crown series.
Everything looked right on track when trainer Michael Clements’ Singapore Guineas winner made a sensational racing comeback in the Class 2 race over 1400m two weeks ago for his seventh win in 10 starts, following which the first Leg of the series, the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) on September 22 was pencilled in as his next target.
But a recent detection of a slight issue with the off-foreleg has unfortunately derailed those grandiose plans.
“We weren’t entirely happy with one of his front legs. It came up after his last race,” said Clements.
“There was a small amount of inflammation and heat to the right leg. He’s a very sound horse, and he wasn’t lame, but we still decided to get it scanned.
“Unfortunately, the scans showed some disruption of fibre within the suspensory ligament. Without getting too technical, it’s a minor sprain that will require a six-week break.
“We could have pushed on with him, but because of his young age and his future potential, after discussing with the owners (Falcon Racing No 7 Stable), we decided the best thing to do was to back him off.
“He will still do a lot of walking and swimming. There is still a good programme for future races for him.
“We’re actually happy we caught it at an early stage as it could have been a lot worse if it had gone undetected. If he had hurt himself in a gallop or a race, the damage would have taken longer to repair.”
The son of Zoustar, who is odds-on to be crowned Singapore Three-Year-Old champion for 2019 following his wins in two Legs of the series, including the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m), might be a notable absentee at this year’s Singapore Triple Crown series, but Clements still hopes to have another shot next year.
“He will miss this year’s Triple Crown, but we can hopefully bring him back for next year’s,” said Clements.
