Victoria Derby winner Polanski has almost certainly run his last race, after sustaining a leg injury in Saturday’s Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.
Polanski finished tailed-off in the Futurity, jockey Dean Yendall dismounting after the finishing post and returning to scale on foot as vets attended to the 3-year-old.
The colt was floated to Werribee Veterinary Hospital, where he was cleared of a serious pastern injury, but trainer Robbie Laing still intends to recommend to connections that Polanski be retired.
‘‘It was interesting because they placed the horse’s injured leg in a moon boot and floated him by ambulance to Werribee suspecting he’d done bone damage to the pastern,” Laing told Fairfax.
‘‘But there is no bone damage anywhere that X-rays can find but he’ll undergo tests for soft tissue injuries early this week.”
Polanski won’t be able to race for more than a year if connections decide they want to keep racing the son of Rakti.
Despite making a late start to his autumn campaign after contracting a skin disease, Polanski remained a firm favourite for the Australian Derby.