Lochinvar Art back on track

It might only be a three or four horse trial, but all eyes will be on multiple group one winning superstar and first season sire Lochinvar Art at Melton again tomorrow night.

It’s just a little under 12 months since “Artie” and his driver David Moran were given a rockstar reception at Victorian headquarters the pacer’s absolute domination at the Hunter Cup in February last year.

But a lot can happen in a year – and a lot has happened in the life of “Artie” including a cracked cannon bone, rest and plenty of rehab, and not to mention the first season of a stud career.

And while tomorrow night’s appearance will be just a hit-out at the Melton trials and one step in his much-anticipated comeback from injury, owner Kevin Gordon is thrilled with where his champion is at.

“We’re not getting carried away, but everything is looking really good,” Gordon said.

“We’re only expecting there will be a few horses in the trial, but they are quality horses he is in against, so it will be a good hitout for him.

“David’s pretty confident he knows where he is at, and he’s been really pleased with his work at home since we got him back. He’s 100 percent sound and doing everything we hoped. We’re over the moon.

“The vets told us that one of the scans that came back recently they couldn’t even see where the crack had been.”

Lochinvar Art was widely acknowledged as the best pacer in Australasia, but injury just before the Newcastle Mile derailed his campaign towards the Miracle Mile and then the Inter Dominion.

“There’s a huge thank you owed to Belinda and Luke McCarthy, who did so much of the work with him, and they did a terrific job in getting him a long way down the track,” Gordon said.

“They started bringing him up slowly from the time they got him, in the water walker and on the treadmill, as well as light jogger work – he was in light work from the day they got him,” he said.

“The facilities they have there you couldn’t get better in Australia, and when Luke rang and suggested that they stand him at stud this season while doing the rehab work with him, it was the best of both worlds.

“I’m really excited to have one of our mares, Gordon Girl, in foal to him, and we expect about 25 or 30 mares will be in foal to him this season. And on the flipside, David was able to bring him home after the Inter Dominion, which is about three weeks ago, and have him at the trials tomorrow night.

“He did fast work on Friday, and he went super over a mile and a half – so the trial is the next step.”
If all goes well, Lochinvar Art will be targetted towards a campaign that will hopefully conclude some unfinished business from the 2021 season.

“We’re reasonably confident, all going to plan, that he will get to the Shepparton Gold Cup (January 15), which he won last year. It’s his home track, he doesn’t have to do a lot of travel, and it would be fantastic to be there for that, because he does have a lot of support around the area.

“Then it would ideally be the Casey Classic and we’re are hoping that he should be coming close to right by the Hunter Cup. After that we move on to where we were last year, with the Newcastle Mile and the Miracle Mile.”

Gordon, who hails from the Newcastle region, has made no secret winning his home-town feature is high on his “bucket list”, and while there’s still a way to go, he is quietly confident of “Artie” being there in February.

“He will take a couple of runs to get that high speed back, and his first couple of runs will be over the long trip,” Gordon said.

“You don’t want get too carried away because there are some very, very nice horses around at the moment, and some nice ones coming through as well, but at this stage we really couldn’t be happier with where he is at.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink