After 18 months, classy stayer Platinum Invador’s back - and so far, so good

Update: To be run at Hastings on Sunday after meeting abandoned when horse slipped.

If classy stayer Platinum Invador can pass even a couple of horses in the run home at Awapuni on Friday, co-owner Neville McAlister will be happy.

It will be the now seven-year-old’s first race for 18 months after he injured a tendon during a Queensland campaign in May, 2021.

It’s been a long road back for the 2020 City Of Auckland Cup winner, after first stem cell surgery, a six month spell, then months of rehab with skilled Bulls horseman Bryce Newman.

And, while the horse is looking bright and happy, McAlister and his partners John and Lynne Street know he’s a day-by-day proposition.

“He’s had a very long, slow buildup to make sure we give him every chance to stand up,” McAlister said.

“So far, so good but you never know with this sort of thing. Some blow apart in a couple of starts, others can race on for a couple of years. You’ve got no idea which side of the ledger you’ll fall on.”

Neville McAlister … “He’s had a very long, slow buildup to make sure we give him every chance to stand up.”McAlister cited the case of Lincoln Farms’ exciting galloper Lincoln Falls who came back from the same injury to win fresh-up in 2020, only to go amiss again after his second start. Tried again in April he went sore again after only two starts.

McAlister said Platinum Invador had been in and out of training this year to help strengthen him up.

“He’s been in work since March so he’s done a lot of work and is pretty fit.”

Platinum Invador won his second trial, over 1200 metres at Foxton on October 18, though McAlister said that was only against maidens and one-win horses.

“If he hadn’t won that we’d have been in trouble.”

Only one of Platinum Invador’s four wins have been at less than a middle distance so neither McAlister nor trainer Lisa Latta is expecting much over 1550 metres on Friday, especially with the horse having to carry 61kg from the outside gate on the turning inner track.

“Lisa Allpress will go back, get some cover, and hopefully we’ll see him running home strongly,” Latta said.

“I couldn’t be happier with him, he is a very happy horse, and I expect him to go a nice race without pushing some of these others considering he hasn’t raced for 18 months.

“Realistically this is just a fitness run to get him ready for the Wanganui Cup later in the month.”

McAlister hopes that 2040 metre race on November 26 will be a stepping stone to even bigger things.

“Hopefully he stays in one piece and we can target some of the bigger races.”

Platinum Invador holds nominations for the $200,000 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa on January 1 and the $500,000 Auckland Cup (3200m) at Pukekohe on March 11.