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Group One winner Ugo Foscolo has returned to New Zealand for a period of rehabilitation.

The son of Zacinto impressed in two trials wins for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott before his latest setback and connections decided his recovery would be best managed at home.

“He’s suffering from muscle soreness and we’ve been through this before with him,” said Jonathan Scully, racing manager for part-owner Kevin Hickman.

He also manages the prominent breeder and owner’s Valachi Downs property at Matamata.

“The call was made by Kevin and myself to bring the horse back here,” Scully said.

“We’ve got the facilities and good paddocks and he can be knee deep in grass and be on the treadmill when he’s ready.”

Ugo Foscolo arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday with treatment already underway.

“We had the physio to him this morning and he hadn’t seen a horse as sore as him for a while,” Scully said.

“We will be letting the horse tell us when he’s ready to go back to the races, it will be a while but he’s still young.”

Originally prepared in New Zealand by Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh, Ugo Foscolo won five of his six starts in his homeland, culminating in his Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) success last season.

He raced just once across the Tasman, finishing last on a Heavy 10 track in the Gr.1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) won by Le Romain during Sydney’s rain-plagued autumn.