Mystery hiccup hampers Astor’s plans
HIGHLY-TOUTED three-year-old Astor is on the mend after suffering a puzzling injury on her home track at her most recent appearance.
The Matamata prepared filly finished third over 1400m behind this Saturday’s Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas contender Te Akau Shark after finishing fourth at its previous start in the Group Three Gold Trail Stakes.
“She hurt herself last time she raced when she ripped open her backside and it needed stitching, it was quite nasty,” trainer Danica Guy said.
“We don’t know how she did it – it’s an absolute mystery.
“She’s had the stitches out now and we’ll start on her again soon. She was getting pretty worked up so she really needed a break anyway.”
Astor has won two of her five outings, but despite the strong record the Iffraaj filly’s approach has tested the handler.
“She’s very talented, but pretty challenging,” Guy said.
“She won’t be out for too long though and she won’t have lost much fitness.”
Meanwhile, Astor’s well-performed stablemate Snapshot is in good order after its last-start sixth in the Group Three Spring Sprint at Hawke’s Bay.
“I was absolutely thrilled with him, he just came to the end of his run,” Guy said.
The six-year-old has had two starts for the stable and is expected to go close to adding to his record with conditions to suit.
“He’s a bit older and taken a while to come to full fitness,” Guy said.
“He needs good tracks and he will be very competitive next time out with the right ground.”
A son of Stravinsky, the lightly-tried Snapshot won six of its 11 starts for Graham Richardson before joining Guy’s stable.