Swacadelic finished a long last at his last run in a open handicap  over 2000 metres at Flemington on January 28.

Purcell said the imported galloper will have a good break after his poor performance at Flemington.

“The vets found Swacadelic was suffering with an irregular heart rhythm,” he said.

“We've had him completely checked out and had numerous blood tests done and everything has come back good.

“I've just decided to give him a good long break – he deserves it as he's had a solid campaign. I'm confident everything will be alright when he comes back into work.”

Swacadelic ran fifth in last year's Adelaide Cup after drawing a wide barrier in the 3200-metre feature.

Meanwhile, St Jean – formerly trained by Purcell – will run in the $100,000 Avondale Gold Cup this Saturday.

The race, at Ellerslie, is the middle leg in a three-race bonus series worth $1 million. St Jean won the first leg of the exclusive bonus when he took out the City Of Auckland Cup last month. The final leg is the $500,000 Auckland Cup to be run at Ellerslie on March 11.

The seven-year-old stallion is trained by leading New Zealand trainer Donna Logan but is owned in the same interests, many from the Western Districts, as when Purcell trained St Jean.

Purcell said Logan was happy going into Saturday's race.

“Donna said St Jean has improved since his victory last month,” he said.

“The owners have their fingers crossed St Jean will run well in the Avondale Gold Cup – if he happens to win they will be pretty anxious as they will have him running for the million dollar bonus.

“We're using the old saying we're just taking one race at a time – we're not trying to get in front of ourselves.”

Purcell was forced to transfer St Jean to Logan after the stallion continually tested positive to non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen.

The drug was administered when St Jean was recovering from a tendon injury at a rehabilitation complex.

TOUGH Orford jumper Mannertone is making good progress for this jumps season, according to trainer Anne McGrath.

Mannertone ran third in a restricted race on the flat over 2000 metres at Naracoorte on Sunday, his second run back from a break. 

“The old bloke worked to the line strongly,” McGrath said. “He's got no dash on the flat, but to see him finish the race off  strongly was positive.” Mannertone, who failed to finish the course in last year's Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase, is being aimed at the big jumps feature again this year.

“He just never had enough miles in his legs for the Grand Annual last year,” McGrath said.

“We've done a lot more work with him this year. We're aiming to give him another flat run or two before having him ready for the jumps race at Warrnambool on March 30.

From 27 jumps starts, Mannertone has won five races. He has earnt nearly $200,000 in stakemoney for his connections.

IRISH-BORN jockey Declan Bates pleaded guilty to a careless riding charge at Colac on Sunday.

Stewards found that Bates, who is based in Warrnambool  allowed mount Monaco Countess to shift in when not sufficiently clear of Harlem Lights.

His suspension started midnight February 12 and ends February 18.

Apprentice jockey Jake Bayliss was outed following his ride on Our Lucky Omens in the Colac Cup. Bayliss is out from February 14-20.

THREE-year-old Silent Reign was found to have blood in both his nostrils after running in a maiden plate at Colac on Sunday.

Trainer Symon Wilde must not gallop, train or exercise Silent Reign on any racecourse for two months.

He may not start Silent Reign in any race until he has taken part in a 1000-metre gallop in the presence of a steward.

Silent Reign ran seventh in the 1200-metre race.

Wilde’s good streak of winning form continued at Colac on Sunday when See What I Bring won a restricted race over 1600 metres. See What I Bring won the Camperdown Cup last year.

Wilde and fellow trainers Aaron Purcell, Mitch Freedman, and Daniel Bowman all made purchases at the Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney.

Purcell paid $20,000 for a Dream Ahead filly and $40,000 for a Animal Kingdom colt.

An Equiano colt made $28,000 on the bid of Wilde, while Freedman paid $65,000 for a Dupworth colt and a Smart Missile colt made $80,000 on the bid of Bowman.

SIMON Ryan will push ahead with a jumping career for Plateau following his maiden flat victory at Colac on Sunday.

Plateau was having his second start for Ryan after being trained in Sydney.

“We've done a bit of schooling with Plateau and he seems to love the jumping caper,” the Warrnambool-based trainer said. 

“He's well bred and is sound and the big bonus is he likes wet ground so he ticks a few boxes in regards as a jumper.”

The lightly raced five-year-old took his stake earnings to more than $37,000 with the Colac victory.