Exciting four-year-old Ayrton is reported to be recovering well after an infection put a halt to his spring preparation.
While the exact cause of the infection remains unknown, the Group Three winner has spent the past month at Balnarring beach as part of his recovery and has now headed for the spelling paddock.
“It was more serious than what people might have thought, that’s for sure,” Roll the Dice Racing’s Leigh Saville told Racing.com.
“If the infection had spread into the hock and the ligaments, the infection starts eating away, so it can be pretty dangerous.
“He’s been on some pretty serious antibiotics which knocked him around a bit and we’re reducing the antibiotics day by day, you’ve got to just slowly wean them off it.
“It’s just a matter of that infection staying under control because it can come back.
“So you’re not out of the woods until it’s completely gone.”
A winner of five of his seven starts, including the Gr.3 Gunsynd Classic (1600m), Ayrton will now spell for the next six weeks to assist in regaining weight lost through the infection and treatment.
A Queensland Winter campaign looks to be the logical main target for the Kiwi-bred, who is part-owned by breeder Greg McCarthy.
“We just want to get him right first, but the autumn might come around a bit too quickly and we might find ourselves back up in Queensland for the winter again,” Saville said.
“A race like the Stradbroke (Gr.1, 1400m) might be the perfect race for him next time around.”
