CAMPERDOWN trainer Clint Marshall is making a slow recovery from terrible injuries sustained in a trackwork accident.
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Marshall, 34, suffered two punctured lungs, a severed left ear and other injuries after a horse he was riding took fright and fell into a drain.
The former jumps jockey said he was lucky not to have sustained worse injuries.
“The horse just shied and reared up and I knew I was in trouble,” Marshall said.
“I punctured two lungs, one of them had to have a tube put in.
“They put a heap of stitches into my left ear and did a skin graft as a result of having my warning light up high on the cheek strap on my helmet.
“I spent four days in Southwest Healthcare at Warrnambool. The staff did a great job there.
“I was told I was very lucky – it could have been a lot worse.”
Marshall is no stranger to hospital stays. Ten years ago, he broke four ribs, shattered his shoulder and broke a bone in his neck as a result of a race fall at Hamilton.
YOUNG DEPARTS
LONG-SERVING Hamilton Racing Club president Peter Young will stand down in November.
Young, who has been president of the club on-and-off for the past 12 years, said it was time for some new blood.
“I’ve been president long enough,” he said.
“It’s time for a changing of the guard.
“I’m happy with the state of the club.
“The track is in great shape due to the hard work of our curator Darren Kolpin.
“A new president will be elected at our November committee meeting.”
Young said the club would consider swapping its September race date for another day on the calendar.
“We’ve just had no luck with our September meeting for the past few years because of rain,” the Cavendish farmer said.
“I think we’ll see if we can get a change to another day instead of running in September.
Hamilton Racing Club will host its cup meeting on October 29.
GROUP ON TOP
MERRIVALE football coach Jason Rowan, Lester Pickett, Shane Gleeson, Karen Van Kempen and Lee Primmer are living the racing dream.
The group are in the ownership of the Darren Weir-trained Big Duke under the Leroys No.2 banner.
Big Duke took his stake earnings to more than a $1 million after his win in the St Leger Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
Weir has set Big Duke for the $300,000 Moonee Valley Cup on October 28 and the $6.2 million Melbourne Cup on November 7. Primmer said the group are excited to be in the ownership of the French-bred stayer.
“We’ve had an exciting journey with Big Duke,” Primmer said.
“Weiry has done a sensational job with Big Duke. I never made the trip to Sydney for the St Leger, because we originally thought he might have run in the Herbert Power.
“But Weiry decided to send the horse to Sydney, as the race offered more prize money.
“I would say our group will be the first one in the gates for Moonee Valley and Melbourne Cups.”
Primmer said the two miles of the Melbourne Cup held no worries for Big Duke.
“Big Duke ran third in the Sydney Cup which shows the two miles of the Melbourne Cup will be no worries,” he said.
“We’ve only got small shares in Big Duke but it does not matter we’re involved in a genuine Caulfield and Melbourne Cup chance.”
Big Duke has won seven of his 18 starts.
PURCELL PRAISED
AARON Purcell was swamped with well wishes following his first Group 1 win with Aloisia in the Thousand Guineas on Saturday.
One of those was a former stable employee Kosuke Kawakami, who worked for Purcell for more than five years in Warrnambool.
Kawakami now rides trackwork for Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Michael Moroney at Flemington and is a jumps jockey.
The Japanese-born horseman spoke in glowing terms of Purcell’s training ability.
“It was wonderful to see that Aaron got his first group one winner,” Kawakami said.
“The win was pretty exciting. Aaron’s a very underrated horseman.
“He’s a great judge who has an eye for detail and is a very good trainer.
“I’m sure he’ll have plenty of other winners in the six months that he’s in charge of Ciaron’s (Maher) stable.
“Aaron is a no fuss sort of bloke. He just floats along and never gets flustered, but he gets the job done.”
Kawakami also works for Racing Victoria over the spring carnival as its Japanese translator.
UPS AND DOWNS
WARRNAMBOOL apprentice jockey Melissa Julius had a mixed day riding at Manangatang on Saturday.
Julius was dislodged from Emerging Poet not long after the start in the opening race on the program.
She rode Raknikar to victory in the next race before stewards suspended her for excessive whip use on the six-year-old.
Her suspension started at midnight on October 17 and ends October 22.
The day only got worse as she was left $300 out of pocket for another whip infringement after her ride on Manhattan Ménage.
Stewards referred Julius to the riders’ skills panel for further tuition regarding overuse of the whip.