Akuta driven and trained by Mark Purdon won the Group 1 $250,000 Sunshine Stars New Zealand Pacing Derby (2600m) at Addington in December 2022. Photo / Harness Racing New Zealand
Akuta driven and trained by Mark Purdon won the Group 1 $250,000 Sunshine Stars New Zealand Pacing Derby (2600m) at Addington in December 2022. Photo / Harness Racing New Zealand
A freak trackwork accident has thrown Akuta’s immediate future into disarray.
New Zealand’s best pacer injured a tendon after throwing a shoe and stumbling in trackwork on Wednesday, his rear hoof contacting a front leg.
Co-trainer Mark Purdon says the skin wasn’t broken but the tendon took a significant knockand has swollen up, ruling Akuta out of an Australian campaign that was supposed to start next week.
Whether it also takes him out of the rich autumn here, including the $ 1 million Race by Grins and Auckland Cup, will not be clear for at least a fortnight.
“It is quite swollen and we will have to wait for it to go down before we can re-scan it,” says Purdon.
“So he is definitely not going to Australia but obviously, we would love to have him back for the Race by Grins and the Cup.”
Akuta’s stablemate Don’t Stop Dreaming will still head to Australia and race at Melton two Saturdays in a row including the Hunter Cup on February 3 before moving to Sydney for a Chariots Of Fire and possible Miracle Mile campaign.
