Nicky Henderson has issued a positive statement regarding the wellbeing of Sir Gino after the Seven Barrows star suffered a harrowing injury during the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day on Saturday afternoon.
The six-year-old was sent off favourite for the Grade 2 event and was set to use that contest as a stepping stone to the Champion Hurdle, but halfway through the contest the former top class juvenile suffered a horrific pelvic injury.
With many thinking the worst in the immediate aftermath, the sombre mood was given a notable boost when news filtered through that Sir Gino had walked on to the horse ambulance, and the good news continued to filter through in the hours following a race won by The New Lion as Sir Gino spent the night at Three Counties Equine Hospital in Tewkesbury
Speaking to the Racing Post, Henderson said: “George Daly [assistant] has just been to see him and has sent me a photograph of him. He’s had a comfortable night, although there was a bit when he wasn’t. There are two fractured lines, but he’s comfortable and he’ll stay there for a few days until he’s able to move, and then he’ll come back to Lambourn.
“There’s every chance he could make a good recovery, but the poor boy spent most of last year in hospital, and he’s going to spend most of it there this year as well. He wants to be at home, and everyone is doing everything they possibly can.”
He said: “He won’t race again this season. I think it’ll be many months before we know whatever the future holds for him, but horses do mend from this. It’s a long one, though. Pelvic injuries are, unfortunately, not a rarity, but how and what he did nobody will ever know. We’ve just got to hope and pray.
“They didn’t unload him on the racecourse because they wanted to get him straight to the hospital. He’s done very well and, so far, everyone is happy with how he’s coping with it. He’s in safe hands, but the sooner we can get him home, the better.”