Career in doubt for cups bound Group 1 winner
The career of one of Australia’s best-performed stayers is in limbo after he broke down with a tendon injury earlier this week.
AJC Australian Derby winner and BMW winner Fiumicino damaged his off front tendon when galloping at Flemington on Tuesday.
The Hawkes Racing trained seven-year-old now faces an uphill battle to make it back to the races.
“He’s been a great horse to the stable and it’s a real blow because he was ticking over very well,” stable spokesman Wayne Hawkes said. “I won’t say he will never race again but the reality is he’s seven now and the older they get the harder it gets.”
Fiumicino is the third high profile stayer to have his spring ended before it started at trackwork at Flemington in the last week.
Another BMW winner Littorio suffered a suspensory injury that won’t see him return until the autumn at the earliest while the Mark Kavanagh stable lost Shamoline Warrior to a torn ligament above a sesamoid on Tuesday which will require two months of paddock rest.
“Very few horses break down on raceday,” Hawkes said. “It’s a rare event to see one go amiss on raceday but we break down far too many horses during the week.
“How many runners have we had in the last 10-years and I can count on one hand how many have come home from the races in a body bag - and that’s a fact.
“Don’t get me wrong, we are not losing one a day but any horse that breaks down is one too many.
“The tracks at Flemington have improved but the events here in recent weeks show they still need work.”
Fiumicino has earned his connections more than $2.8 million from his 27 starts that have yielded five wins and four placings.
Clinton Payne