Imperial Commander diagnosed with lung infection
Imperial Commander has been diagnosed with a lung infection and will be unable to participate in the Cheltenham Festival. This was a huge setback for veteran trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, who had already lost a couple of other runners due to different reasons.
“Imperial Commander has a lung infection and we haven't enough time to put him right,” the trainer said. “It's come at absolutely the wrong time. We've been absolutely free of any sort of snotty nose all season and suddenly we have got a few with it.”
He added, “We worked a lot this morning and I am afraid The Cockney Mackem will be a non-runner and Astracad as well. All the rest are fine.”
Imperial Commander has been serving his team for quite some time and his performances have been terrific. He has got a pretty decent winning percentage, which shows that he knows how to handle pressure. However, he needs to take care of his fitness in order
to deliver good results with consistency.
Flemensfirth’s son sustained an injury earlier in 2011 and was ruled out of action for quite some time. He made a comeback to the sport after more than one year and came close to winning a race at Cheltenham.
Although he was not rated as the favourite to succeed in that event, he proved to be highly competitive. Despite that, he had to settle for the runner up position by just half a length. The conditions were difficult for everyone, as the ground was heavy.
Therefore, it was not easy for anyone, especially for someone who was making a comeback after quite some time.
Overall, Imperial Commander appeared in a total of 20 events and managed to succeed in eight of them. Moreover, he finished as a runner up on a couple of times whereas secured the third spot once. This clearly shows that he has been competitive on most of
the times and his rivals have never found it easy to battle him.
However, age is not on his side anymore and it will be difficult for him to make a comeback now. Therefore, his team might have to consider his retirement plans sooner rather than later.
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