Playful Trojan in the dog box after hurting himself - Al pulls him out of Redcliffe

Trojan Banner is out of Saturday night’s A$21,000 Redcliffe Derby after hurting himself in his box.

But the good news is the colt’s injuries are only superficial and trainer Al Barnes expects he will be over the hiccup inside a week so it won’t prevent him from peaking for his two big targets.

Trojan Banner, unbeaten in six starts in Queensland, was to have trialled at Albion Park yesterday but Barnes found he had played up during the night.

Al Barnes has big boxes with a window as seen in this shot with Northview Hustler.Trojan Banner, whose colty behaviour has concerned Barnes in recent weeks, appeared to have reared up shoulder high and struck out, getting a leg over the timber of a high window at the back of his box.

“He took a bit of skin off and there’s a lot of swelling and bruising. I gave him some bute last night to help him as he’s pretty stiff and sore.

“He’s got a bit of a bump on his leg but it’s nothing serious and this will only set us back a few days.’’

Barnes says while his boxes are roomy and secure he will now ensure that doors attached to the windows are closed at night to prevent a repetition of the incident.

While frustrating, Barnes says the Redcliffe Derby wasn’t originally on Trojan Banner’s programme as he had doubts about how he would handle the tight circuit.

And that’s why he had planned to trial the horse yesterday to make sure he would be a least 90% right for the race.

“We would have been vulnerable at Redcliffe anyway as his first big race is not until July 13 - this might have even done us a favour.’’

Trojan Banner’s two main assignments are the Group III A$31,400 South East Derby (2138m) at Albion Park on July 13 and the Group I A$100,660 Queensland Derby (2680m) on July 20.

Trojan Banner’s defection sees Lincoln Farms’ other Redcliffe Derby runner Make Way move in to five on the outside of the front row.