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Promising youngster Massale is taking the first serious steps back to fitness after a fall in the country’s richest event left him in a race for his life.
The Matamata two-year-old showed his talent in the summer with a debut win at Awapuni where he beat the subsequent Gr.1 Diamond Stakes placegetter Platinum Balos.
Massale then finished fifth at Ellerslie to earn a start in the Listed Karaka Million, in which he was tightened for room 800 metres from home and crashed through the running rail.
Rider Kerrin McEvoy was left nursing a minor knee injury, but Massale wasn’t so fortunate and on-course veterinary advice at the time was grim.
“He carved out the front of his knee, it was like a knife had sliced it off,” co-trainer Chad Ormsby said.
“The raceday vet said to put him down, but we persevered and it’s quite a miracle that he’s come through. He’s a very talented horse and put his hand up early.
“We’re doing a bit of work with him now and in about eight weeks we’ll look for a race for him and then we’ll know whether he’s going to be 100 per cent again.”
Massale’s talented barn mate Divissima is also back in the stable and progressing well toward a return in the spring.
“She had a jump-out last week and we’re really pleased with the way she’s going,” Ormsby said. “She’s untapped and still doesn’t know a lot.
“She’ll have a trial in a fortnight and go to the races about a month after that. Ultimately, we’d like to think she’ll be going to Christchurch for the Guineas.”
Divissima won first time out in January and was then spelled after she failed to handle the slow track when unplaced in the Karaka Million.