ROMEO BROWN 1st May 22 to end April 23
Very much a season of two halves…May to December 2022was brilliant, with big prize money wins at massive odds 20/1 and 50/1 at Haydock and Aintree.
But come the new year and things went drastically wrong.
Firstly, at Huntingdon 27th Jan, where the dividing rail between the run in chute and the main course, confused either, or both, horse and rider, ending up with Romeo crashing through the rails, and depositing Thomas Willmott on the turf.
Two weeks later, in a four runner race at Doncaster to qualify for the Pertemps long distance hurdle at Haydock, Romeo, distracted by a horse veering off a straight line approaching the third last, jumped the hurdle but landed awkwardly and fell, breaking a bone in his near side rear knee
That was the 9th Feb `23, and thanks to the Course vets swift response, Romeo got back home in one piece, allowing for the Smiths local vet to take over.
X rays showed the broken bone …one of many small bones in the knee, was, thankfully NOT a load bearing bone, thus the treatment advised was rest and care, and, whilst it will take a long time, the prognosis, we are told, is excellent regarding his chances of racing again.
Fast forward to today, and after over eight weeks of box rest, followed by time on the walker, he was moved to a small pen in mid April, which would allow him to be outside again for some of the day, before returning to his box for evening feed.
We are now almost at the stage of his recovery, which will involve him being turned out in a large field to graze for the summer weeks, with just one other horse, Marty Time, who is also recovering from a leg injury.
After being confined to barracks for such a long time, you can imagine the pleasure he will get from such a back to nature holiday.
Thanks to ALL the staff at Craiglands, but mainly Sue, Joel and in particular Reece, who continues to be Romeos special minder.
They all deserve a lot of credit for their efforts, which I`m sure will be rewarded next season.
Richard
January till end of season, a disaster.
