Hey Day Baby "absolutely fine" after being pulled up on chase debut – latest update from Jonjo & A J O'Neill
07 Jun 2024
Hey Day Baby made her chase debut at Uttoxeter yesterday in the Ladies Day Friday 26th July Handicap Chase (16:50), but unfortunately had to be pulled up four fences from home after bleeding during the race.
It was a positive start for our mare, who was in touch with the front runners for much of the early going and jumping well. Uttoxeter can get quite tight and tricky at some of the fences but she managed to navigate herself quite smartly when the field bunched up just before jumping a couple of the early obstacles.
As the race progressed, she did struggle to contain her enthusiasm which was making things a little difficult for jockey Benjamin Macey and will have meant she was using more energy than necessary.
Unfortunately, as she started to struggle to maintain her position, young conditional jockey Benjamin Macey made the decision to pull her up before the thirteenth fence as he noticed she was bleeding, and it was the right decision to ensure her safety and welfare.
WATCH: Post-race interview with trainer A J O'Neill
The O'Neill team provided us with the following update this morning:
"Although it was initially disappointing to see Hey Day Baby pulled-up at Uttoxeter, it soon became apparent she had bled, which explains why she stopped so quickly and Ben obviously did the right thing. She was absolutely fine this morning, she trotted up completely sound, so there are no other physical issues we need to worry about.
We’ll get her properly checked over by the vet now, as that will help tell him if there are any underlying issues that may have caused the bleeding, it could even be that she picked up an allergy to pollen, as that is not uncommon at this time of the year and can cause bleeding when they’re put under race pressure.
Once we get the vet results we can treat whatever the problem is, the good news is she settled well into the race, and once she warmed up, she was jumping well. She was a bit deliberate early on, but that was to be expected on her debut. She was in good form at home going into the race, so we’ll look forward to getting her back on the track as soon as possible."
It was a positive start for our mare, who was in touch with the front runners for much of the early going and jumping well. Uttoxeter can get quite tight and tricky at some of the fences but she managed to navigate herself quite smartly when the field bunched up just before jumping a couple of the early obstacles.
As the race progressed, she did struggle to contain her enthusiasm which was making things a little difficult for jockey Benjamin Macey and will have meant she was using more energy than necessary.
Unfortunately, as she started to struggle to maintain her position, young conditional jockey Benjamin Macey made the decision to pull her up before the thirteenth fence as he noticed she was bleeding, and it was the right decision to ensure her safety and welfare.
WATCH: Post-race interview with trainer A J O'Neill
The O'Neill team provided us with the following update this morning:
"Although it was initially disappointing to see Hey Day Baby pulled-up at Uttoxeter, it soon became apparent she had bled, which explains why she stopped so quickly and Ben obviously did the right thing. She was absolutely fine this morning, she trotted up completely sound, so there are no other physical issues we need to worry about.
We’ll get her properly checked over by the vet now, as that will help tell him if there are any underlying issues that may have caused the bleeding, it could even be that she picked up an allergy to pollen, as that is not uncommon at this time of the year and can cause bleeding when they’re put under race pressure.
Once we get the vet results we can treat whatever the problem is, the good news is she settled well into the race, and once she warmed up, she was jumping well. She was a bit deliberate early on, but that was to be expected on her debut. She was in good form at home going into the race, so we’ll look forward to getting her back on the track as soon as possible."
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