The ride on the Coneygree rollercoaster continues and we were all delighted that he had responded dramatically well to his most recent wind operation. However, returning from one of the best pieces of work that he has done since he won the Gold Cup, we found he was lame. This was desperately disappointing but his welfare is always the top priority and so he was sent off for further investigations which have unfortunately revealed a stress fracture of his tibia. This is an injury which will require a period of rest and rehabilitation but carries a very good prognosis for a full recovery. So, with his enthusiasm for galloping and racing still intact, he will do another six months of rehab before returning to full training in preparation for one more go at proving that he is still one of the greatest steeplechasers of all time. He broke records when he won the Gold Cup when still a novice so we will now hope that he can win one more big race after a record amount of time off. It was a similar stress fracture that caused most of the lay off before his wonderful season of 2014/2015, so we are ever hopeful!
The fairy tale that begun when we bought the great, late Plaid Maid (Coneygree, Carruthers and Flintham’s mother) for a couple of grand, is not over yet and Carruthers proved that there is longevity in the family when finishing an impressive second in the ultra competitive Ladies Open at the Heythrop point to point at fifteen years of age!!
Coneygree and the rest of his family owe us absolutely nothing and I can assure his fans that I know and feel every step he takes and if, at any time, he is in any way, any less enthusiastic about his work he will be retired immediately and an alternative five star life for him will be found.
