Owen Burrows has been dealt a hammer blow with the news that brilliant G1 Coronation Cup winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his hind leg.
Hukum made the breakthrough at the highest level when storming to Coronation Cup glory at Epsom on Friday and now his racing career hangs in the balance.
For Burrows, Friday's win also represented a memorable first at Group 1 level, with the trainer describing the success as “massive” at the time.
However, just three days after Hukum's greatest day on a racecourse, Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell Estate, revealed the 5-year-old may never grace the track again.
He said, “He's got a fracture in his hind leg so we've had to put some screws in it. Obviously he'll be out for the rest of this year. It's a shame as he'd just won his first Group 1 with a career-best.
“We haven't got as far as deciding if he will return to training as it's early days. From one point of view he just seemed to be hitting his best form so with that in mind you'd say yes, but at the same time he'll be a back-end 5-year-old this year.”
Gold added, “We haven't had a chance to discuss that and won't make a rushed decision as he'll be in his box for a bit. We'll make a decision on that later in the year.”
“It's a real shame, sadly, especially for Owen as Friday was a huge result for him, but you've got to take the rough with the smooth.”
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