Nicky Henderson: “Altior appears to have come out of the other side and seems to be over the worse of his severe bout of Colic”

WE have some news with regards to Altior and I’m delighted to say that it is ‘good’ news as he appears to have come out of the other side and seems to be over the worse of his severe bout of Colic.

It’s been a long slow process and I must admit we were all extremely worried at one time and very concerned that he mightn’t pull through, but thankfully due to the excellent work from everyone at Donnington Grove, especially Kate McGovern, Rosie and the whole team who stayed with him on a 24 hour watch, it looks a though Altior will be able to return home to the Fitzgerald family tomorrow, which is obviously fantastic new for him and all of us.

He’s had a great week and things have gradually improved which meant he was able to go onto solid foods a couple of days ago and has taken that well and everything seems to be working so we hope he is on the road to recovery.

There have still be a few nervous moments but he was getting brighter and brighter as the days went on and it has been amazing how far he has come. It’s very rare for any horse to survive what Altior has gone through and I’d go as far to say that this was as deep as you could go and his chances were not very promising at all, but as we’ve all said before, he must be a very tough and brave person to overcome what he has. He was a fighter on the racecourse and is most definitely a fighter off it as well!

The support we’ve had has been amazing and we cannot express our gratitude and thanks enough. Horse racing has really come together, and in dire circumstances have pulled together and shown great positivity which is often quite rare, especially on Social Media, and the comments and wishes we received were very humbling, so thank you on behalf of all associated with this good old retired racehorse who is clearly still loved by so many people.

He’s still receiving plenty of TLC and certainly won’t be ridden or doing very much for a few weeks or more but the most important thing is that he is still with us and should hopefully continue enjoying a deserved happy retirement.