Racing: Gingernuts okay after a setback in recovery

Michael Dee pats Gingernuts after the horse was injured from the Emirates Stakes. Photo / AAP

Injured Kiwi galloping hero Gingernuts is on the improve after a worrying setback.

The popular four-year-old has been sidelined after freakishly fracturing his pastern on his way to the start of the A$2 million Emirates at Flemington on November 11, needing surgery a few days later.

He had been recovering at an equine rehab facility in Victoria since but developed a slight temperature that saw his rushed back to the Werribee veterinary clinic on Monday night.

But Te Akau boss David Ellis received the email he hoped for yesterday, with Gingernuts back to normal on the path to recovery.

"The vets say he is not any more lame that he should be for a horse who has been operated on and that his temperature has come down again," says Ellis.

"That temperature was the concern and the reason he went back to the clinic because they were worried when it went up on Monday and there is always that concern with post-surgery infection.

"But things are back to normal now, his appetite is good and we are confident he will be fine."

Gingernuts was set for his Victorian debut before the shock accident on the way to the starting gates for the Emirates, where he faltered at half speed and fractured one of his pastern bones.

A sensational winner of last season's Vodafone NZ Derby at Ellerslie, Gingernuts has a cult following spurred by his huge syndicate of owners and his rags to riches story.

The prognosis following the surgery on his fractured pastern suggested he is at least a 50-50 chance of racing again but that will not be until next season at the earliest.