Racing: Xcellent to have stem-cell surgery

Star New Zealand galloper Xcellent will undergo revolutionary new tendon surgery following confirmation yesterday that the horse will not run again until next year.

Paul Moroney, stable manager for the horse's Waikato trainers Mike Moroney and Andrew Scott, said a scan of Xcellent's latest tendon injury was worse than an earlier tendon injury.

He said it would be 18 months before the horse raced again.

Xcellent, who ran third in last year's Melbourne Cup, injured a tendon last month but last Friday was found to have suffered a similar injury to another leg.

Moroney said a scan taken yesterday confirmed the second tendon injury and showed the first injury had deteriorated.

"The damage to the new tendon injury is probably a bit more serious than the first one," Moroney said. "And the old injury has regressed from a scan taken, probably, 10 days ago."

Moroney said Xcellent would have surgery next Tuesday and under the direction of Matamata veterinary surgeons Jim Marks and Dan Shaw a new procedure, called stem cell surgery, would be undertaken.

Explained Moroney: "They take bone marrow from the sternum and inject it into the tendons.

"It stimulates growth of new cells and eventually new tendon fibres will come though."

Moroney said it would be a year before Xcellent would return to training and because the horse does not handle wet tracks there was no point in trying to get him ready for 2007 winter racing.

"It's a 52-week rehabilitation process so we are unlikely to see Xcellent race again until the spring of 2007.

"He'll basically have 14 months out [of training] from now and start work in May of 2007."

Moroney said his stable had had one other horse undergo the stem cell surgery and after six months the signs were promising.

"The last scan we had showed things were very encouraging. It was done by the same veterinary team and they are absolutely rapt with the progress."

Moroney said stem cell surgery started in England about two years ago and had probably been used in New Zealand for about 12 months.

Moroney was well aware the new surgery did not ensure 100 per cent recovery.

"It's not a guaranteed situation. But it is a revolutionary new procedure that appears to be getting very good results."

Moroney said he needed only to recall a recent New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame function he attended to raise his hopes Xcellent could make a full recovery.

War time racing hero Kindergarten was among the recent inductees to the Hall of Fame and Moroney said that horse had leg problems.

"The likes of Kindergarten came back to fight another day and regain their best form.

"We'll be doing everything we're told to do with Xcellent and hopefully he'll show everybody what a high class horse he is."

"But it's going to be a long 18 months until he gets back to the track."

Xcellent is unbeaten in six New Zealand starts.

Among his wins are the 2004 New Zealand Derby (2400m) for three-year-olds at Ellerslie.

He also won New Zealand's richest race, the $1 million weight-for-age Kelt Capital Stakes (2040m) at Hastings last October.

The Pentire four-year-old gelding was to have resumed racing in the Waikato Sprint at Te Rapa, Hamilton, last month until struck down with the first tendon injury.

Meanwhile the news is no better for Manawatu galloper Snazzy.

He was pulled up in the home straight of the $150,000 weight-for-age New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie last Saturday and trainer Jeff Lynds said a scan yesterday showed the Danske four-year-old stallion had also suffered a tendon injury.

"It's not nice, but these things happen in racing," Lynds said.

He said Snazzy would be given a long break from racing but it was too early to say if he could return for next summer's racing.

"We'll just see. It's too early to judge that," he said.

Snazzy was racing for the first time on a right-handed track last Saturday and Lynds believed that could be a reason for the injury because a horse leads his galloping action with a different front leg.

"It's an injury which can occur when a horse is switching between racing right and left-handed," he said.

Snazzy, at his previous start, had won the group one $100,000 weight-for-age International Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on February 11 which took his record to six wins from 11 starts.

- NZPA