G1 Epsom Derby second favorite Zawraq (Ire) (Shamardal) is reported to have made “substantial improvement” in his race against time to be fit for Saturday's showcase. Dermot Weld's colt has been in the news regularly this week owing to an injury scare following a satisfactory piece of work on Tuesday morning, after which he was found to have been slightly lame. Initial X-rays and scans suggested the injury was not serious and his leg has been iced during the last 24 hours. Hamdan Al Maktoum's unbeaten 3-year-old engaged in light exercise on Wednesday morning, and connections will be playing it late when it comes to decision time.
Angus Gold, racing manager for owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, said “I have just spoken to Mr Weld and, in his words, the horse is 80 per cent better than he was this time yesterday. Leigh Roche, who has done most of the work on him, trotted him and he thought he felt 100 per cent.” During what must be a nerve racking few days for connections Gold added, “They will now continue with the icing and he will be X-rayed again and rescanned this afternoon, just to check nothing more sinister has come to light. As long as they are clear and as long as he's sound, he'll have a good canter tomorrow morning with Pat Smullen aboard and how he comes out of that will obviously be crucial. Being positive, if he canters and everything is fine, I would imagine he'll be declared.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
