Trainer Donna Logan suffers serious fall & fractured skull
“It’s been a disaster and I feel so sorry for her,” said her training partner Chris Gibbs.
“She slipped on some wet ground and she took a really bad tumble. She’s got a split under her nose and a fractured skull.
“She’s in hospital at the moment and she’s hoping to get out today. Everything has turned to custard.”
Logan was to have wed her partner Peter Woods on Friday and Saturday’s Ruakaka fixture was to have been her farewell meeting ahead of a new stage of her training career in Singapore.
Tavistock’s son Tavlin at least provided a tonic when he opened his winning account in the Remembering Ila Johnson (Grandma J) Maiden (1600m).
The three-year-old, who holds a nomination for the Gr.1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m), is co-trained by Logan, who bred the gelding and shares in the ownership.
Tavlin was making his fourth appearance and his first success came off the back of a runner-up finish on the course last month.
“The blinkers helped that bit of greenness he showed at his last start when he didn’t take a gap as well as we had hoped,” Gibbs said.
On Saturday, rider Matt Cameron had Tavlin travelling kindly three back on the fence to the turn.
“The gap opened up for us at the top of the straight and he got the job done,” he said.
“He’s still learning, but he should go through the grades quickly.”