Potala’s mucus may explain it

CHAMPION colt Potala Palace, unexpectedly beaten by 9.25-lengths in Saturday’s Gr 2 Dingaans on Summer Cup Day, may have been harbouring a lung infection at the time of the race.

The striking son of Singspiel raced to the front early in the Dingaans and made the pace, but faded out quickly when he came under pressure and trainer Mike Azzie told freeracer: “After the race there was a clear fluid running from his nose and he was unusually quiet so we were a little worried. We scoped him after the race and found nothing, but we performed a lung wash on Sunday and found green mucus in his trachea. We sent a sample to Onderstepoort and we’re waiting for the results to come back.”

Horses can’t talk. Potala Palace was scoped two weeks and again ten days before the Dingaans and nothing untoward was detected. His blood picture was also perfect and Azzie said: “He looks beautiful in his stable today and if anything, he might have been a little big on Saturday. Also I would have preferred him to come from a few lengths off the pace. That’s the way we work him at home, he likes to run at his rivals. But there was obviously something bothering him, these kind of things do happen and we’ll go back to drawing board.”

Potala Palace remains a leading contender for the 2012 Triple Crown races, with the Classic and the Derby earmarked as his principal targets.

Azzie commented: “You can draw a line through this run. When Potala Palace won the Premier’s Champions Stakes in July he returned from a 98-day rest and had the Dingaans winner Silver Flyer well behind him, also Baracah and Mushreq, so this was clearly not his best by a long way.”

Photo: Potola Palace (yellow silks), winning at Turffontein on 8 November.