Racing: McKee undergoing tests in hospital after falling ill at Te Rapa

Watching Stephen McKee in Waikato Hospital yesterday afternoon was heartening.

Certainly more heartening than the image of a ghostly-white trainer being strapped to a stretcher at Te Rapa races on Saturday.

However, doctors don't know what ails the highly successful young Ardmore trainer.

McKee collapsed early during Saturday's big Te Rapa raceday and was taken to Waikato Hospital.

"They did some scans last night, which didn't throw any light on the problem," McKee told the Herald as he sat in a chair just outside his hospital room yesterday.

"I've still got five or six tests to go through and I guess being the weekend that's not all going to happen today."

McKee said he started feeling ill after a couple of races at Te Rapa.

"I'd been in the trainers' food room in the birdcage and I went outside and started to feel unwell."

McKee went to the upstairs hospitality room operated by one of his owners, Herbie Dyke.

"I was with a couple of mates and I started to feel real crook.

"I said to a mate: 'Call me a doctor'.

"They kept going on about a $600,000 Pick6 and I said: 'I really need a doctor'."

Yesterday, McKee said his immediate future would be guided by doctors.

He was still numb in much of his front body and was unable to hold things properly.

"I'm very interested to know what these other tests come up with."

McKee's big advantage is he still has father and former training partner Trevor working with him.

"Mufhasa will still fly to Brisbane this week," he said. Culminate, beaten out of the money on Saturday's Te Rapa track, will follow a few weeks later.

However, stablemate Boundless, who was to have accompanied Mufhasa to Brisbane, has been turned out for a spell after she was scratched from the Travis Stakes because of filling in a tendon.

Mufhasa runs in the BTC Cup on Saturday week.

* * *

If the second tier of 3-year-olds are not champions, they're very smart horses.

Riomoral showed he definitely was with his nose victory in Saturday's $70,000 Windsor Park Cambridge Breeders Stakes.

He would have had a couple of excuses if he'd been beaten.

For starters he's used to leading and that alone could have got him beaten.

"He over-raced a bit because he's not used to racing in behind them," said winning rider Michael Coleman.

"The benefit of that is that as a result he was able to get to the right part of the track [wide] in the home straight."

Rio Fortune and Noel Harris looked certain to win with five strides to run, but Riomoral's determination won through.

There are huge overseas offers on the table for Riomoral.

He deserved this win and is a horse with a future.

Rio Fortune and Show Up dead-heated for second almost in line and Via Veneto, Lemonade and Aspinal contributed to a blanket finish.

* * *

We had a column midweek about the television camera angles of race finishes and how they are important.

It was a touch premature.

Te Rapa rates as one of the better angles, but something went wrong on Saturday.

If you thought Salvatore was beaten in Race 3 you must have watched the race live and from a different angle to most. Latika fooled everyone by claiming victory.

Everyone included commentator George Simon and Salvatore's trainer Anne Herbert and husband Wayne.

On the live vision it looked as though Salvatore had beaten Latika by half a head. "I didn't even think it was close," said Wayne Herbert.

"I was standing off to the side and I noticed them put a ribbon around Latika's neck ... that was the first time I knew we hadn't won."

It was a big effort by Latika, who had to sprint hard from the 300m to catch Salvatore, who had looked certain to win.