Paua Of Buddy Sidelined With Injury

BENDIGO Cup winner Paua Of Buddy will be sidelined for at least three months after he underwent surgery to repair a toe ligament on Wednesday afternoon.

Trainer Steve White said the injury, a dislocation of the collateral ligament on a rear track toe, occurred during the thrilling Cup Night Match Race on Shepparton Cup night last Saturday.

Billed as blockbuster showcase between two of Victoria's premier one-turn sprinters in Paua Of Buddy and dual country cup winner Typhoon Sammy, the race delivered on the prerace hype as the pair were never separated by more than half a length for the duration of the 450m journey, with Typhoon Sammy prevailing by a neck.

? MUST WATCH FROM WEDNESDAY

PAUA OF BUDDY (1) won his 11th race at start 15 in a sizzling 24.767 seconds at Ballarat for trainer Steve White.

SILVER LAKE (24.686) set the 450m track record on February 3, 2021.

Result ? https://t.co/XNfanXSFFP#GreyhoundRacing @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/bARYFqnnqA

— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) March 2, 2022

"I think it was around the home corner as Typhoon Sammy pushed out on him and turned him sideways, but we'll never know," said White.

"It was probably the best and closest match race since they put them on. I was a bit disappointed to be honest – if he had of drawn inside he avoids Typhoon Sammy who wants off the track. I went in thinking he was going to break the track record, that's how confident I was.

"But as it turned out, you can't expect him to do much more with a broken toe."

While White is confident of a full recovery, he was disappointed to miss a number of feature races he believed Paua Of Buddy would have been a factor in.

"He should make a full recovery. Best thing we can do is leave it to Alistair (Smith, the vet who performed the surgery), get it all sorted it all out and maybe in six weeks he might start some light work.

"(But) it's not ideal. It's ruled him out of the Ballarat Cup, the Warrnambool Cup, the Million Dollar Chase. I was going to go and trial him up at Wenty Park. We just hope it doesn't have too much effect on him coming out of the boxes. He's such a great chaser, a real hard chaser, so I'm hoping it doesn't affect him.

"Time will tell. He will be back we just need to be a bit patient, get him through the next six weeks and go from there."

White revealed that he had had a number of breeders contact him regarding his plans for standing Paua Of Buddy at stud, however he confirmed that he won't be taking straws during his enforced lay off.

"People are interested because of his line and his speed, but I don't want to upset him or have his mind on something else."