Copy That is at the airport today for a flight to Melbourne.
Ballarat is a long way to go for a scan but no expense being spared with Copy That
By Barry Lichter • 29 November 2023
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.”
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Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Mark Dux’s comments
Wednesday night at Redcliffe
Race 1: Captain Nemo
7.17pm NZ time
“It’s a reasonable field, they’re not push-overs, but they’re all beatable. It will all come down to who gets the right trip. If we have something go our way we could get some of it as there’s not a lot between them and I don’t think he’s far off now. We’ve got a bad draw again and there’s a bit of speed inside us so I’ll tell Angus to just play it by ear.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Lincoln La Moose
7.32pm
“He’s a pretty good horse. He was still below his best last time at Cambridge - he needed the race - but went very well for second behind King’s Watch. With his ace draw, he should be right up there for Zac (Butcher). He always looked a bit delicate but he’s got tougher.”
Race 4: Obadiah Dragon
7.32pm
“He’ll go a good race but our others look better here. His last run was below par for him so we took a blood off him and he had a bit of a virus going on. He was at the tail end of it but it was enough to stop him.”
Race 4: Lincoln Lou
7.32pm
“Even if he’s half a run short, I don’t think it will matter, he’ll still be too good for this lot. He only had a mild virus which came right with treatment and he’s trained on well since. He feels pretty good and if I was betting man, I’d bet him for sure based on his last run, which was massive.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.32pm
“He’s in a ‘coming of age’ phase. He rushed up beside them last start and wanted to lay all over them and give them a hug. But that’s normal coltish behaviour. He does that in training as well, rushes up and switches off. He has a lot of ability but also a few little behaviour traits that we need to get on top of.”
Race 6: My Copy
8.24pm
“It won’t be easy from four on the second row but he’s very honest and, if opportunity knocks, he’ll be right there. If he gets a trip, he’s always ready to pounce.”
Race 9: Tyson
9.39pm
“He should be one of the favourites. The raw ability is there and he’ll definitely win races as he has a bit of speed. How far he will take us we have yet to find out but I thought he did really well last time given the run he had.”
