Racing: Auckland Cup winner's owners seeking second opinion on injury

Vincent wins the Auckland Cup last month. Photo / Dean Purcell

A second opinion could decide whether Auckland Cup hero Vincent races again.

The outstanding pacer is likely to miss the rest of this year and may even not race again after being diagnosed with a suspensory problem last week.

Trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen have by no means given up getting the four-year-old back to the track but have been advised to give him at least nine months out of work.

The All Stars trainers are in Victoria this week aiming Lazarus and Heaven Rocks at the A$500,000 ($552,000) Hunter Cup on Saturday but next week their big guns will head to Sydney for three weeks and Vincent will be going with them instead of flying back to New Zealand.

"Bill and Jean [Feiss, owners] have asked us to take Vincent with us and monitor him while we get a second opinion," Purdon said.

"We have a vet in New Zealand who has done plenty of work on him and we will send the scans over to her.

"It is not about second guessing the vets over here, just about trying to tick all the boxes before they start making decisions.

"I'd love him to come back into work at the end of his time off but we also understand if the diagnosis isn't great then they will have interest from studs so the more information we have the better.

"He is obviously a very valuable horse and we want to make sure Bill and Jean have as much information as possible before they decide on his future.

"Obviously we would love him to have his break to recover and try and come back as a racehorse but it is all very up in the air at the moment."

Winner of 16 of his 19 starts, including two Derbies as well as the Auckland Cup, Vincent was rated the biggest danger to champion stablemate Lazarus in the A$750,000 Miracle Mile on February 24 before his injury.

While Vincent's career is on hold, Lazarus is totally over his recent hoof concussion problems suffered in Perth and being worked like they never happened.

"We are really happy with him and I don't think the race he missed will bother him this Saturday because he had a really good fitness base," says Purdon.

Lazarus is around the $2 favourite depending where you shop for the Hunter Cup, with Heaven Rocks the second favourite but the race having enormous depth, with Inter Dominion placegetter Tiger Tara, WA Cup winner Soho Tribeca and Victorian hero Lennytheshark heading the long list of challengers to the Purdon pair.

The barrier draw for the Cup is today and if Lazarus draws well he could start at short at $1.40 whereas a second line draw for the New Zealand champ will at least add some spice to the market.