KEY POINTS:
It won't be known until later today or tomorrow morning whether we've seen the last of Just Not Cricket.
Saturday's $100,000 Great Northern Hurdles victor was not in good shape when floated back to Hawkes Bay yesterday by trainer Paul Nelson.
The leg injury which became apparent as
Jonathan Riddell brought Just Not Cricket back to scale could end the top jumper's career.
"The leg's not that flash, but we can't locate where the problem is," said a frustrated Nelson.
But Nelson was almost certain the injury is not tied, as first thought, to the tendon problem which halted Just Not Cricket's career for a lengthy period a few years ago.
"We had a go at trying to find the problem last night and again this morning, but with no luck.
"He'll have a good going over tomorrow morning."
Nelson said Just Not Cricket was putting some weight on the problem leg during the float trip but: "bugger all". Nelson and owner Garry Sherratt can console themselves that they have a horse that has joined a very select group to have won back-to-back Great Northerns.
And have done so off the back of a shocking, if luckless, formline.
Nelson was so desperate to turn Just Not Cricket's 5FLF0 (fell, lost rider, fell) formline around he sent the horse to Riddell in Palmerston North for 10 days when the jockey returned after a two-month contract in Melbourne.
The only conclusion was that Riddell and Nelson had been over-rating the horse's experience.
"He's a 10-year-old so we thought he knew everything, but when you look back he was having only his fourth hurdle race when he won the Northern last year," said Nelson.
Which is why Riddell knew on Saturday he had to provide the confidence for horse and rider and lift Just Not Cricket over the fences, not simply expect the jumper to do it himself.
In many ways, this year's Northern was a mirror image of the same race 12 months ago - and not just because of the winning result.
With 600m to run in both races we had Just Not Cricket close to the pace, but under what seemed like impossible pressure with Tommy Hazlett last year seizing the initiative and driving forward on the Mark Oulaghan-trained Yourtheman.
Some said Hazlett went too soon after Just Not Cricket battled back strongly to win narrowly.
But, given the same set of circumstances, there is not a jockey in the world who would not have done the same thing. This time, Hazlett sailed past the seemingly beaten Just Not Cricket at the same spot on the Mark Oulaghan-trained Counter Punch only to be run down again by Just Not Cricket and, also, this time, Pasco.
Hazlett had an added problem on Saturday - he was virtually forced to make his move because the leader and roughie Spirit Of Alaton was showing no signs of coming back to the field.
Hazlett had no way of knowing Spirit Of Alaton was going to drop his rider just as Counter Punch claimed him at the second last fence.
"I can't tell you what went through my mind when I saw Just Not Cricket out of the corner of my eye in the last 100m. I could hear them coming, but no way did I expect to see those red colours again."
Spirit Of Alaton's demise made it more difficult for Counter Punch.
"If he'd stayed with me he'd have given me a better run into the last fence," said Hazlett. Counter Punch lost momentum when he landed flat-footed and did not have the speed to hold out Just Not Cricket and Pasco.
But Counter Punch is a wonderful stayer and should be a steeplechasing star when he steps up to the bigger fences, almost certainly next winter.