St Nicholas Abbey recovering well from life-threatening surgery

QIPCO British Champions Series star St Nicholas Abbey is healing well after suffering a bout of colic while recovering from surgery on a fractured pastern.

The former Aidan O’Brien-trained six-year-old was injured on the gallops in a routine piece of work prior to the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last month, a race for which he had been ante-post favourite.

The complex operation for his fractured right-fore pastern was completed at Fethard Equine Hospital in Ireland by Veterinarians Dr Ger Kelly and Dr Tom O’Brien, after they had consulted with the world’s leading specialist in fracture repair, Dr Dean Richardson of Pennsylvania, for further guidance as to the most effective treatment method for St Nicholas Abbey.

As well as taking a bone graft from the triple Investec Coronation Cup champion’s right hip to help speed up bone repair, a total of twenty screws and two bone plates were used to reconstruct and stabilise the pastern and fetlock joints.

With the procedure a success, unfortunately, within 48 hours, St Nicholas Abbey suffered a bad bout of colic.

However, as anaesthesia does increase the likelihood of colic occurring in horses, the veterinary team were prepared to deal with this outcome. His latest surgery has so far turned out to be a success.

The six-time Group 1 winner is recovering well and reports on his progress are positive, and you can watch more about St Nicholas Abbey in a great video Coolmore have produced, entitled ‘The Road to Recovery’.

Also to find out more about St Nicholas Abbey’s sparkling career on the track, check out our biography pages.