Jimmy Fenwick is satisfied with the progress of Ice On Fire who pulled up lame with a potential career ending injury four weeks ago today.
The Greyhound of the Year finished lame on a gallop at home with damage to a gracilis muscle on the inside of his hind leg. Within three days the dog was being treated by Irish physio Declan Merriman and that work has continued on a daily basis.
Here is a video of the former Derby favourite taken two weeks ago.
The injury was diagnosed as a small tear on the lower tip of the gracilis with a further injury to a supporting muscle.
Jimmy said: “We have been back to Declan who described the injury as “as good as it can be” and we are carrying out his instructions to the letter. Basically the dog is galloping around the paddock, doing big ‘figure of eights’ and having a specific set of stretching exercises four time every day.”
Jimmy added: “It isn’t the worst I have seen and we are aiming for full flexion in the gracilis. The plan is to go back to Declan on August 15 and he can assess him again. But I should stress that we are not considering anything beyond that at this stage.
“The way I see it, Ice On Fire is probably retired and under no circumstances will we attempt to race him if he isn’t completely back to his best. He certainly won’t be trialling any time soon.”
In the meantime, the multiple Cat One winner has commenced his new career as a stud dog.
Jimmy said: “He has covered Rushmoor Tess for Liam O’Callaghan from Cork and Jimmy Gaskin’s Ballymac Lydia. We have also been taking some semen using a company called Animal Breed Care. We have six vials already frozen and he will be drawn again next Monday.
“We have some bitches here who I would like to breed from, and if by any chance he is back in training when they come in season, we won’t disrupt his preparation.”
