Champion driver Chris Alford is still in hospital and no closer to knowing when he can return to the sulky.

Just hours after driving in the last Saturday week’s Miracle Mile, with what he thought was a sore but recovering knee injury after being kicked by a horse, Alford rushed to Kilmore hospital.

“I was OK at Menangle, but maybe the flight home triggered it or something because by the time I was coming home from Shepparton on the Sunday, my knee has blown-up to double its normal size,” he said.

“I went to Kilmore hospital where they drained it, but when things didn’t get better they sent me to St Vincents Private on Wednesday and was having surgery two hours later.

“It still wasn’t better Friday, so they did the same operation again to clean it out. I’m still in hospital and feeling better, but it’s still double the normal size.

“I’m on heavy anti-biotics due to see the surgery tomorrow (Monday) where I hope to get an update.”

 

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STUNNING Menangle feature winners SILK CLOUD and MISTER REA along with buzz Victorian raider LIGHTNING DAN are among the headline acts in what shapes as a fantastic Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.

Pink Bonnet winner Silk Cloud’s clash, with Alex Alchin’s stunning Penrith debut winner OPPENHEIMER BLUE, will be a real highlight of Wednesday night’s Gold Tiara heats for two-year-old fillies.

Oppenheimer Blue, a daughter of BLING IT ON, has the advantage of gate two while Silk Cloud has drawn outside the front (gate eight).

Ray Walker’s Mister Rea blazed a 1.2-second faster opening half than KING OF SWING did when they both won on Miracle Mile night.

Mister Rea and the Emma Stewart/Clayton Tonkin-trained Lightning Dan, who did absolutely everything wrong and still won at Horsham at his only run, will attract plenty of interest in the Gold Crown heats for “boys” on Thursday night.

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ONE of the hidden secrets about champion thoroughbred trainer John Hawkes is his long and deep passion for harness racing.

It stems from his time growing-up in SA with so many legends of harness and right through his incredible training career, Hawkes not just followed harness racing, but raced many pacers with groups of friends.

Just recently Hawkes and his fellow owners retired the consistent KASBAH KID after 16 wins.

But the connection continues with another former SA horseman and now Victorian-based Geoff Webster, who won two races in two days for Hawkes late last week.

First it was two-year-old debutante MAJOR MAJOR, a $47,500 Australian Gold Art Major yearling, who led and won easily at Maryborough last Thursday, then lightly-raced Kiwi-bred three-year-old BELMONT ROYALE won by a whisker at the Cranbourne tri-codes meeting last Friday night.

“We hope Major Major can fill the shoes of Kasbah Kid. You can’t do any more than win like he did the other day,” Hawkes said.

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MENANGLE lover CASH N FLOW’S feature race days may be behind him, but the veteran is still a force in the right races.

It was great to see him return to winning form, courtesy of a great Luke McCarthy drive and lovely run, in a free-for-all at Menangle last Saturday night.

Cash N Flow’s won 16 of his past 22 Menangle starts, but this was only his second win since a failed raid on the Victoria Cup at Melton last October.

“Looking back, we erred taking him to Melton, but he was going so well at the time,” Luke McCarthy said. “It’s taken a while to get him back where we want him."

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