Chariot King
Dual Gr. 1 winner Chariot King is back in work with John Tapp after being retired prematurely last year and a racetrack return for the five year old is imminent. The son of Badlands Hanover was diagnosed with synchronous diaphragmatic flutter which is more commonly known as “the thumps” last year but has shown no signs of the condition since returning to work.
“Chariot King was charging around the paddock and it was only a matter of time before he went through a fence and hurt himself seriously so I spoke with his owner Peter Welsh and we decided to put him back into work and so far I have taken everything quietly and carefully,” Tapp said.
“He has been back in work for 11 weeks now and it has got to the stage where he is ready to go to the trials and his first trial back will be Wednesday (9th May), he did have extensive testing when he was diagnosed with the thumps and it revealed he was also suffering from a significant lung infection but so far he has shown no signs of any problems.”
Tapp is not expecting a miracle result in the trial but is confident the Bathurst Gold Crown winner will get better with constant work.
“Blake Fitzpatrick will be driving him and I will be telling him to give him a very soft trial so as I can get an idea on where the horse is at. I plan to give him at least two trials, if he comes through those and is ready to go the races then he will, otherwise he will have a third trial before resuming.”
“When he does make his comeback I won’t be throwing him in the deep end at Menangle, actually to coin an old showbiz term he will be ‘resuming off Broadway’ because I don’t want him knocked around too much early on in his campaign.”
It has been a tough week for Tapp after the news that good friend and owner Dennis Loudoun passed away last Friday.
“He was a lovely man, a loyal supporter and raced a number of horses with me, he will be sadly missed by all of his friends and family.”
Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) is the controlling body for harness racing in New South Wales with responsibility for commercial and regulatory management of the industry including 31 racing clubs across the State. HRNSW is headed by an industry-appointed Board of Directors and is independent of Government.
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