Mister Rea out

Australia’s fastest two-year-old this season Mister Rea has been ruled out for the rest of the term.

The colt was one of the main fancies heading into next weekend’s Breeders Challenge Semi Finals at Menangle, however, a quarter crack has put a stop to that.

To say breeder, owner and trainer Ray Walker is devastated is an understatement.

“He has a quarter crack in his back foot and is out for the rest of the series . . . we were really looking forward to the clash,” said Walker.

“He hung pretty bad around that last corner at Young in his last start and we weren’t sure why.

“Not long after, some blood appeared on his coronet band and then eventually the crack came through.

“We tried to prop him up with different shoes but it wasn’t worth taking the risk, so he lives to fight another day.

“We cut it right out on Wednesday and it was instant relief for the horse, you wouldn’t know he has an injury.”

It is all about rest and rehabilitation for the unbeaten son of Pet Rock now.

“Being a colt, I take him for a walk a couple of times a day just to rehab him,” said Walker.

“I’ll keep him in a stable at my place instead of sending him to the paddock so that I can keep a close eye on him.

“The New South Wales Derby is on in February, so that is our next target.”

Despite carrying an unknown injury, Mister Rea remained unbeaten in six starts when winning his Breeders Challenge heat on September 14.

Not only did he clock 1:56.5 around the half-mile Young track, he beat his rivals by more than 15m.

Mister Rea showed just how serious of a horse he is when winning the Group 2 Sapling Stakes at Menangle at just his second start.

Leaving horses like Smaltese and Skyfall Benchmark in his wake, Mister Rea clocked 1:52.1, which no other two-year-old in the country has been able to match in race conditions this season.

By Amanda Rando for Harnesslink