Green in hospital undergoing surgery after being kicked

Barry Lichter writes for Lincoln Farms that dual New Zealand Cup winning trainer Ray Green is in hospital undergoing surgery this evening (Nov. 21) after being kicked in the stomach by a horse.

Green, 77, was taking a cover off a horse this morning when he was kicked and he was taken to hospital for observation.

Lincoln Farms’ business manager Ian Middeton said preliminary advice from doctors was, while there was some bleeding, scans did not reveal any damage to internal organs.

But Green’s wife Debbie said he had since been taken into surgery after concern over continued bleeding and possible damage to his intestine. At 6pm tonight he had been in theatre for three and a half hours.

Earlier, before things took a turn for the worse, the stable’s leading owner Merv Butterworth expressed his concern for Green and his disappointment over Harness Racing New Zealand eliminating Copy That (American Ideal) from his scheduled race at Auckland on Friday night because they deemed he was too good for his rivals.

The mobile 2200 metre sprint was to have fitted Copy That for the first of his two Christmas targets, the $50,000 Thames Cup on December 16.

Both Copy That (R120) and Hot And Treacherous (R92) were scrubbed from the field despite the conditions of the race saying the rating 35 and faster pace would be split into three races and selected from the highest rating downwards.

The decision left the race with an eight-horse field and a rating spread of R59 to R74.

Butterworth said the ridiculous situation of the two best horses and potential drawcards for the meeting being eliminated would never occur in Victoria.

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by Barry Lichter, reprinted with permission from Lincoln Farms