Oamaru trainer Chris McLeod hopes all his bad luck has run out but it remains to be seen if the hugely talented Armbro Demon returns to the races.
The daughter of Armbro Invasion, the winner of five of her 10 starts, really announced herself on the big stage with a punishing win on New Zealand Cup day in November 2011, but she has been plagued with problems after pulling up lame following a short campaign last spring.
''I turned her out [in October], brought her back before Christmas and had about four or five weeks' jogging,'' McLeod said.
''She was jogging all right, but had a bit of heat in her off-hind leg so I turned her out for three months, brought her in about three weeks ago, and on the second day back, she's jogging lame.''
Trotters with such freakish speed do not come along very often, so McLeod decided to get her checked at a veterinary clinic in Christchurch last Thursday.
''We can't find a problem with her joints or ligaments, so therefore [the vets] think the only thing it could be is something like a stress fracture in one of the main bones of the legs somewhere,'' McLeod said.
''To X-ray would cost me about $2000, and they said, 'All we're going to do is tell you to put her aside and try her again later'.''
So McLeod is going to give Armbro Demon one last chance after a good spell in the paddock, but he is not expecting miracles.
''I'll give her a wee try in the springtime and if there are any problems, she'll probably go to stud,'' he said.
Majestic Son or Sundon loom as the most likely mating propositions for Armbro Demon if she does go to stud, with Sundon already producing a nice 2yr-old for McLeod to toy around with. Which is where the rest of the bad luck comes in.
''I've had a bad couple of months,'' McLeod said.
''I had a foal out of Hold Fast [Armbro Demon's mother] by The Pres that was put down at the stud with a shattered pastern. Then I had a 2yr-old out of Hold Fast that was going terrific, and I was nearly ready to take him to the trials - then he knuckled over at the end of a workout and he pulled a muscle in his hind leg.''
The 2yr-old, named Whatasista, will be McLeod's next project if Armbro Demon does not come right.
''He's the one I've got my hopes on now. He'll probably have another eight weeks out ... and, hopefully, by Christmas time, we might have a racehorse.''
