Payne To Be Patient With Kaspersky

Rookie trainer Michelle Payne's European import Kaspersky (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) faces a spell on the sidelines as he recovers from surgery to remove bone chips from his front fetlocks. The 6-year-old entire began his career in Italy with Endo Botti for whom he was a prolific winner including a victory in the G2 Carlo Vittadini in San Siro in 2015 while he also won the G2 Aengevelt Meilen Trophy at Dusseldorf in Germany the following year. He then transferred to English trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam and ran some high class races in defeat in 2017 most notably when runner up to Mutakayyef (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G2 Summer Mile S. at Ascot in July. He ran for Chapple-Hyam on his first Australian start when down the field in the G1 Toorak H. at Caulfield in October and has since joined Payne, though it will be quite a while before any serious targets can be entertained. “He's in the stables recovering from an operation on his front two joints,” Payne told Racing.com. “He's got to have four months out so I think we'll aim for next spring with him. He's definitely got the ability and if we can get him back to 100 percent, it'll be pretty exciting and I'd love to get him up to a race like the [G1] Epsom because I think the Randwick mile would suit him,” she added.