By MICHAEL GUERIN
A lonely midnight battle was behind the shock failure of Interdominion trotting hero Special Force at Cambridge on Monday.
The great trotter cost punters thousands with his worst New Zealand performance in 18 months in the Flying Mile.
Special Force was expected to lead and be the horse to catch in a race where the conditions suited him perfectly.
But after being sluggish from behind the gate the 6-year-old was never trotting squarely and driver Todd MacFarlane was loath to give him his head, fearing he would gallop.
After moving up to sit parked at the bell Special Force never looked his usual self and could finish only fifth.
That sent trainer Dave McGowan into a spin, wondering what he could have done to have changed the normally foolproof trotter into a hopping, skipping mess just 12 days out from the start of the richest trotting series staged in Australasia.
"I was stunned. I couldn't sleep wondering what was wrong with him because he just looked terrible during the race," said McGowan.
But yesterday morning McGowan's wife Clare had some good - and not so good - news for her husband.
"Clare does all the massage and muscle work on our horses and when she looked at Ernie [Special Force] on Sunday he was perfect," said McGowan.
"But as soon as she started working on him today she knew something was wrong."
Special Force's soreness yesterday indicated he had been cast in his box.
"So we checked out his stable and their were scrapes and hoof marks all up the wall.
"Sometimes when a horse is sleeping they will roll too close to a wall and when they go to get up they can't but they also can't roll back over either.
"Poor Ernie must have been struggling like that on Sunday night and that is why he was so sore on Monday."
McGowan would usually have noticed Special Force's soreness on Monday morning but the gelding's regular raceday jog was cancelled because of the wet weather.
"If he had jogged like usual then we would have worked out something was wrong and scratched him."
While disappointed for Special Force and his army of supporters, McGowan says at least the problem won't stop him defending his Interdom title.
"Three or four sessions with Clare and he should be all right so he will still be on the plane next Monday."
Special Force's failure on Monday night saw the TAB drift as third favourite for the Interdoms which start with the Dullard Cup on January 15.
But Special Force has overcome problems to win that race before. Last season he arrived in Melbourne just three hours before the Cup because on a delayed flight but was still too good for a hotshot field.
"He recovers from injuries so well and has been so much stronger this campaign than last season I am sure he will bounce back."
Racing: Stable accident cost punters dearly
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