According to an article by Petr Malik on the Galopp Reporter web pages, Trezor seems to be recovering well after an operation. He suffered a broken bone in or around a hoof in the Velka Pardubicka. This happened either at Havel’s Fence, the fourth from home, which he hit hard, unseating his rider, or more likely when he put a foot into the Big Water Jump earlier in the race.

Trezor was operated on at the veterinary clinic at Hermanuv Mestec, not far south-west of Pardubice racecourse, and an X-ray when the stitches were taken out indicated that the operation was a success.

If he is fit, Trezor at the age of 11 can again be a big contender for the Velka Pardubicka in 2014. In each of the last two seasons, he won two of the Velka Pardubicka qualification races in great style, but in each of the last three seasons he has disappointed in the big race itself. In 2011, when not much fancied, he jumped faultily, but he was still quite promisingly placed when he fell at Havel’s Fence, the fourth from home. In 2012, when hotly fancied, he paid the price for following the pace set by Orphee des Blins and faded right away in the last kilometer. In 2013, like all the others, he was burned up by Orphee des Blins’ relentless pace and perfect jumping. When he fell at the fourth from home, he was again beginning to fade, but he would probably (like several others) have finished second if he had got round.

It is an irony that Liam Treadwell was bitterly criticized, especially by the trainer, for his riding on Trezor in 2012, whereas Josef Bartos in 2013 repeated everything that Treadwell had allegedly done wrong a year earlier, and yet he has escaped unkind words. Josef Bartos is a top jockey, liked and respected by everyone, and he did the best he could on Trezor in 2013.

Liam Treadwell, winning jockey in the Aintree Grand National on Mon Mome, is the only British jockey in the modern era, with the exception of Velka winners Chris Collins and Charlie Mann, to have studied and mastered the intricacies of the Pardubice crosscountry course. I hope he will continue to ride here. With his skills and experience, he is on the very short list of jockeys that owners and trainers would want to ride their Velka contender.

As for Trezor, he clearly does well in Velka qualification races over 5800 metres on hard ground in midsummer conditions. There is a question mark over his aptitude for a race over 6900 metres in October conditions. Nevertheless, owner and trainer will never have a better chance to achieve everyone’s ambition to win the Velka Pardubicka. If, as we hope will be the case, Trezor is fit to run next year, owner and trainer will no doubt consider a different programme for the horse in 2014, but will end up sending him just down the road to Pardubice for the Velka on October 12^th.

http://www.galopp-reporter.cz/kratce/hana-kabelkova-trezor-se-uspesne-zotavuje