Powerful Breeze to miss first part of the season

Keith Hamer
March 3, 2020 6:00 pm

Leading Classic contender suffered injured ribs in a fall.

Powerful Breeze will miss the first part of the Flat season after damaging her ribs in a fall.

Trainer Hugo Palmer is optimistic the filly will be able to return in the summer, but she will be absent from the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.

She had been a leading fancy for Classic honours through the winter on the back of a superb two-year-old campaign.

After making a winning debut at Newmarket, the daughter of Iffraaj landed the Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster and was second to Quadrilateral in the Group One Fillies’ Mile back at Headquarters on her only other start.

Plans are on hold until she recovers, although Palmer feels Powerful Breeze can still make her mark in 2020.

“She’s had a setback. She took a fall two weeks ago and the stirrup iron has injured her ribs,” said the Newmarket trainer.

“It’s painful and it’s right where we want to put a girth, so she’s going to have time on the sidelines but when horses fall over they can do all sorts of terrible things.

“I can curse our bad luck that it happened, or I can realise it could have been so much worse. She could have broken something that couldn’t repair.

“She’s just not going to be ready for those early Classics, which is a huge shame because on her two-year-old form she would have been one of the leading contenders.

“There’s no reason at this stage that she shouldn’t be back to contest some of those lovely races in the summer.”

Palmer intends to take advantage of the good races on offer.

“There’s a lovely programme for milers and, if we get that far, there’s even the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland for fillies and mares.

“All is not lost, but she won’t be running in a Guineas. I’m loathe to put time on it at the moment.

“She was training great at the time and pretty fit and is still in her box at the moment. Anyone who has ever cracked a rib knows how painful it is.

“She will tell us when she’s ready to do more. If we rush her we might set ourselves back further.

“It’s going to be a fine balancing act, but the priority is to make sure we get her back.

“I reckoned at the start of this year there were 10 potential Group One races for her. The first being the 1000 Guineas and the last being the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

“She was never going to run in all 10. The aim is try to run her in a good few of them, but they will be the summer ones, not the spring ones.

“She’ll be walking as soon as the vets give us the advice she should walk. Once she can step up to trotting I dare say we will probably do it on the treadmill before we start putting anything round her.”