Snow Fairy to stay in training in 2012
Posted by Robert James on Thursday, December 8, 2011
Despite sustaining an injury that might have prompted her adoring connections to seriously consider her retirement, the outstanding filly Snow Fairy will remain in training in 2012 and attempt to add to her already tremendous list of racecourse victories around the globe, writes Elliot Slater.
The Ed Dunlop-trained daughter of Intikhab last week stood on the verge of a historic bid for the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin and was highly fancied among racing betting tips but sadly suffered an injury to her near fore leg during routine training and has been forced to miss the hugely valuable and prestigious contest.
Although the full extent of the injury has not been revealed it is serious enough to require a significant spell on the easy list so the four-year-old was flown home to Newmarket, a journey that happily went without any problems.
After being examined by Dunlop’s veterinary team and following lengthy discussions with the filly’s owner Mrs Cristina Patino, Dunlop confirmed the news that so many British fans had been waiting for and that gives her legions of fans something to look forward to over the long, cold winter months. Snow Fairy had looked back to her very best when producing a stunning performance to land the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto last month, coming with a whirlwind finish from a seemingly impossible position a furlong from home to land the race and defy the horse racing betting for the second year running.
Although she failed to add to her victories in Europe this term there was little doubt that the bargain basement yearling still showed high-class form, failing by just half-a-length to beat Goodwood specialist Midday in the Nassau Stakes, pushing So You Think all the way in the Irish Champion Stakes, finishing a tremendous third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe behind Danedream, and running a close third to French star Cirrus des Aigles in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.
The Ed Dunlop-trained daughter of Intikhab last week stood on the verge of a historic bid for the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin and was highly fancied among racing betting tips but sadly suffered an injury to her near fore leg during routine training and has been forced to miss the hugely valuable and prestigious contest.
Although the full extent of the injury has not been revealed it is serious enough to require a significant spell on the easy list so the four-year-old was flown home to Newmarket, a journey that happily went without any problems.
After being examined by Dunlop’s veterinary team and following lengthy discussions with the filly’s owner Mrs Cristina Patino, Dunlop confirmed the news that so many British fans had been waiting for and that gives her legions of fans something to look forward to over the long, cold winter months. Snow Fairy had looked back to her very best when producing a stunning performance to land the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto last month, coming with a whirlwind finish from a seemingly impossible position a furlong from home to land the race and defy the horse racing betting for the second year running.
Although she failed to add to her victories in Europe this term there was little doubt that the bargain basement yearling still showed high-class form, failing by just half-a-length to beat Goodwood specialist Midday in the Nassau Stakes, pushing So You Think all the way in the Irish Champion Stakes, finishing a tremendous third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe behind Danedream, and running a close third to French star Cirrus des Aigles in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.