St Nicholas Abbey comes through his operation

We won’t see St Nicholas Abbey on a racecourse again, but hopefully he can become a great stallion. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Europe’s all-time highest money earner, St Nicholas Abbey, has come through a long and complex operation to fuse his pastern and is recuperating in intensive care at John Halley’s Fethard Equine Hospital.

He still has a long road to recovery, but on Thursday morning was described as comfortable.

"St Nicholas Abbey will remain in intensive care for some time and has many bridges to cross before he is considered out of danger," said Coolmore in a statement released via their Twitter feed @coolmorestud.

"This morning he is well and comfortable and back enjoying his hay.

"We are lucky he is so fit and has a marvellous attitude and temperament, which will be vital for his long recovery."

The surgery was carried out in consultation with Dr Dean Richardson, head of surgery at New Bolton Centre Pennsylvania, along with Ger Kelly and Tom O’Brien.

The six-year-old suffered his life-threatening injury during a routine piece of work on the gallops at Ballydoyle on Tuesday morning as he was being readied for Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (sponsored by Betfair) at Ascot.

Speaking on Wednesday, his trainer, Aidan O’Brien, said: "As a racehorse he was always very special.

"He could travel very well in his races and he always had that ability to quicken really well. His record speaks for itself."

He earned almost £5 million in prize money, more than any other European-trained horse, including three QIPCO British Champions Series victories in the last three Investec Coronation Cups as well as the Breeders’ Cup Turf in the USA and this year’s Dubai Sheema Classic.