In harness racing you can be on top of the world one minute and in the depths of despair the next when you are dealing with 500 kg horses.
That's how the owners of The Manipulator must feel tonight after their very promising three year old son of Panspacificflight broke down while racing at Addington Raceway today (May 9th).
A warm favourite for the $23,505 Alabar Super Series final for C1-C3 pacers,The Manipulator went away well initially but then galloped after 100 metres when checked and settled well behind the field.
The Manipulator made up a lot of ground during the race and would have finished a lot closer than ninth if he hadn't been badly held up in the home straight.
Nothing was noticeably wrong with the horse as he was ungeared and washed but as he cooled down The Manipulator was favouring his offside front leg.
The Addington Raceway vet Corin Murfitt was quickly on the scene and after a thorough examination was convinced that The Manipulator had either fractured a cannon bone or a suspensory.
The Manipulator will be x-rayed tomorrow and then a course of action decided after the diagnosis has been made.
Natalie Rasmussen was philosophical about the injury.
" It is just one of those things when you are racing horses but it is still not nice when it happens."
" You just hope that it is not as bad as it looks and that the horse can make a complete recovery," Natalie said.
We here at Harnesslink echo those sentiments and wish The Manipulator a speedy recovery.
Harnesslink Media