Harness racing trainers have a hard enough row to hoe as it is without having health and injury concerns as well but that is often the reality that trainers face.
Benny Hill would know that better than most at the moment as he tries to get his head around the bleeding issues with his star pacer Dalton Bromac.
The big strapping son of Major In Art looked the next Grand Circuit champion in the making when he took the harness racing scene in New Zealand by storm last season.
His displays of powers and speed had harness racing pundits reaching for the superlatives and when he ran 2:36.1 for 2200 metres at Auckland just before Christmas last year, the world was his oyster.
However as so often happens with elite equine athletes, health issues reared their ugly head just as he was hitting top gear.
The favourite for the Harness Jewels at Ashburton at the end of May, Dalton Bromac bled from the nostrils in his final lead up race the week before the Harness Jewels and was put stood down for a month as per the regulations.
Benny was in no hurry to get his star pacer back this season but a really hard winter and Dalton Bromac being slow to come to hand meant he wasn't going to be ready for Cup Week.
So Benny decided he may as well head to the McCarthys in Sydney to kick start his five year old season.
Benny was confident he was in for a big season.
" It was a really hard winter here and he just took longer to come to hand than I thought he would."
" When he wasn't going to make Cup Week I had no hesitation in sending him to Sydney," Benny said.
That looked like a really good decision when Dalton Bromac trialled recently at Menangle.
" He jogged a mile in 1:53 and change and did it on his ear."
" I was really confident heading into Saturday night at Menangle and so was Luke and when he only ran third I was pretty disappointed."
"I was a lot more disappointed when I got a text from Luke McCarthy shortly afterwards telling me he had bled again from the nostrils after the race."
" I was just gutted to be honest."
" As a second timer, he cops three months out this time and having bled the last two times he has raced, he doesn't look to have a future racing down under."
" The only place he can race and receive the help he obviously needs is North America and that's where his future now lies."
" I have already had three calls from prospective buyers in the last 24 hours so I just have to settle on one of those."
"The reality is that this is just part of training horses."
"You just have to pick yourself up and go again," Benny said.
With the open class ranks in New Zealand short at the moment of out and out stars, the loss of Dalton Bromac to North America at this time will be keenly felt.
Harnesslink Media