Great Southern Star winner Callmethebreeze won’t run at Swan Hill on Friday, but his New Zealand trip still has a pulse.
Trainer Andy Gath, frustrated by Callmethebreeze’s rough gait in recent weeks, said he was relieved to finally discover what’s been causing it and that it’s not serious.
“When he went to NZ earlier this year he developed a quarter crack and that same hoof has flared-up again, but hopefully it’s not too bad and some remedial shoeing can quickly do the trick,” he said.
“It’s good to find out what we’re dealing with.
“While it’s unlikely he’ll be on the plane next Tuesday, we’re not giving up yet.
“We’ll do some work over the next few days and see how he is by the end of the weekend. We’ll make a final decision then.
“We’d love to go, but he’ll have to show us he’s ready to go.”
Callmethebreeze brilliantly won his first three starts for Gath, but it all went wrong when trotted roughly at a crucial and galloped in the Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint at Melton on October 12.
"The focus is on getting him trotting smoothly again now because whether he goes to NZ or not, he's still a young horse for a trotter at just six with lots ahead of him," Gath said.