Signs of tendon injury following preliminary scans could rule out Group 1-winning sprinter Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) from a return to action for the year, his trainer Roger Teal has revealed.
The winner of the G1 Darley July Cup in 2020, Oxted races for Tony Hirschfeld, Stephen Piper, David Fish and John Collins, and he added victory in last year's G1 King's Stand S. to his tally before finishing third when bidding to retain his July Cup crown.
Now six, he has not been seen on the track since last summer after undergoing knee surgery to remove a floating bone chip. Teal had been aiming Oxted towards a seasonal comeback in the G2 Duke Of York S. at York's Dante meeting but an issue with his near foreleg prompted a scan of the potential injury.
“We are still not 100 per cent clear how bad the injury is, but obviously it has knocked us out of York and will probably knock us out for the rest of the season,” said the trainer.
“We are going to have him re-scanned again next week and then maybe, if there is some sort of miracle. I've been in this game long enough. It's probably more doubtful than not he will run again this year.”
He continued, “He has a small tear in his tendon. Sometimes you can get away with a knock, so that's why we have to have him re-scanned, but we fear the worst. Once you have something there, it often develops into something worse.
“He is still relatively young as far as sprinters go and if we look after him now, hopefully we can get him back.”
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