Through The Cracks delivered Angela Davies one of her biggest moments on a racetrack, but when he suffered back-to-back injuries last year, she feared the career of her best horse might be all but over.
The 2020 Provincial Championships winner underwent surgery to a fetlock after finishing a gallant fourth to Greysful Glamour in that year’s Villiers Stakes.
On the road back to fitness, he was injured on a water walker and forced to again return to the paddock to recover.
The brace of setbacks kept Through The Cracks sidelined for more than a year and given his age, Davies began to wonder whether he would return at all.
“You’re lucky to get them back when they’re seven-year-olds,” Davies said.
“When they get to that age you think, ‘will we get him back wanting to race?’.
“But he definitely seems to still want to be there, and he definitely has a zest for racing still.”
Through The Cracks proved he had lost none of his ability when he resumed from his lengthy lay-off with an eye-catching third behind Prime Candidate and Special Reward in the Listed Canterbury Classic (1200m) on January 7.
The performance came as a relief to his trainer and gave Davies the confidence to press on to the Listed Carrington Stakes (1400m) on Saturday at Randwick where Rachel King sticks with him.
“It was an unsuitable track, unsuitable distance and not having had a run for nearly 13 months, he went absolutely super,” Davies said.
“His willingness and keenness to race, he showed that at Canterbury the other night.
“He is very enthusiastic about being at the races. He is a horse who doesn’t like being in the paddock, he loves being in the stable, he loves going to work and he just enjoys what he does.
“I think he will perform terrific again. His work has come on and he has tightened up that bit more.”
Through The Cracks has an exceptional second-up record with three wins from four starts and has opened a $4.60 favourite with TAB Fixed Odds.
The Canterbury Classic form is expected to stack up with the two horses who finished ahead of him, Prime Candidate and Special Reward, sharing the second line of betting at $6.50.