Ballarat is a long way to go for a scan but no expense being spared with Copy That

Given Copy That has earned $2 million, trainer Ray Green says it’s understandable owners Merv and Meg Butterworth are sparing no expense flying the horse to Australia to further investigate his injury.

Green says it’s become more apparent from the latest X-rays of Copy That’s knee that he will need surgery before returning to the track. But because there is a limit to what can be seen on X-rays, the horse is off the Victoria so he can be checked out with an MRI scanner.

The dual New Zealand Cup winner is flying to Melbourne today and will be at the Ballarat Veterinary Clinic by tonight.

“There’s a little bit of wear and tear on that knee which needs to be cleaned up. It’s yet to be determined how serious it is but it’s actually quite common in racing horses.

“But we want to do an MRI to determine if there’s anything else sinister going on that we don’t know about - if there’s something in the joint that’s not visible on X-ray.”

While Copy That has been under the expert care of Barbara Hunter at Matamata Veterinary Services, the Ballarat clinic has the only MRI scanner in this part of the world that allows horses to be examined while standing.

When horses come out of a general anaesthetic they can do catastrophic injuries to themselves trying to regain their feet, something which the Butterworths are not prepared to risk.

“It’s an expensive exercise going to Australia but the horse has earned a lot of money so he’s paying his own flight and doctor’s bills.

“He deserves the best possible treatment and Merv trusts the people at Ballarat.”

It was the clinic’s Dr Brian Anderson who was in charge of Copy That’s treatment and recovery when he fractured his stifle on a previous campaign to Australia.

“The MRI will allay any fears and hopefully by early next week we can speak with more authority about his future.

“I don’t profess to be an expert on these things but knowing the horse, and how he’s been in recent weeks, my gut feeling is he’s got a very good chance of racing again. Put it this way, I’m a lot more optimistic than I was when he first went lame.”