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Multiple Group One winner Metal Bender has succumbed to another injury setback and has been scratched from Saturday's $2 million Doncaster Mile at Randwick.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Trainer Chris Waller informed Racing NSW stewards that Metal Bender will be spelled after heat was detected in his front legs after he worked at Rosehill on Monday morning.
Metal Bender had made a grand return to racing this autumn, finishing third in the Canterbury Stakes before winning the G1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill.
His setback depletes the big Waller team set for the Doncaster with the trainer planning to start Shoot Out,
Danleigh, Albert The Fat and possibly Rangirangdoo.The six-year-old Metal Bender recorded his third G1 win in the George Ryder after previously winning the Randwick Guineas and Rosehill Guineas in 2010 as a three-year-old when trained by Allan Denham.
He also won the G2 Warwick Stakes and was placed in the G1 Underwood Stakes before suffering a bleeding attack in the 2010 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington.
He resumed in the autumn of 2011 but after only one start suffered a serious leg injury that kept him sidelined until last month when he had his first start for his new trainer Chris Waller.