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News stories which have appeared on the website are available free of charge but stories which have appeared in the newspaper are only available when you join Members' Club. *NOTE: The archive runs from January 1, 2006 to present

St Nicholas Abbey - Meydan 30.03.2013

St Nicholas Abbey is able to stand and is eating freshly cut grass

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)  

X-rays reveal how vets saved St Nicholas Abbey

COOLMORE have released stunning x-ray images of the 20 screws and two bone plates used to reconstruct St Nicholas Abbey's leg following the career-ending injury he sustained last month.

The six-year-old broke down on the gallops at Ballydoyle after fracturing the pastern and fetlock bones of his right front leg and was taken to Fethard Equine Hospital for surgery.

Slide-3

St Nicholas Abbey's right front pastern held together by screws

  PICTURE: Coolmore  

An update on the Coolmore website also reveals a bone graft was taken from St Nicholas Abbey's hip, to replace some of the smaller fragments of bone in the leg which had lost their blood supply.

Another image shows a steel pin placed through the lower end of the horse's cannonbone, designed to allow him to stand on the leg to prevent further life-threatening complications, including laminitis.

Following the original surgery, the three-time Coronation Cup winner developed colic and again went under the knife but he is now eating freshly cut grass and vets are delighted with the progress he has made.

Fethard Hospital's Dr Tom O'Brien said: "We are very pleased with his progress so far.

St Nicholas Abbey x-ray

A steel rod supports the horse's weight to aid his recovery

  PICTURE: Coolmore  

"A horse that has travelled the world over and competed at the highest level of the racing game is obviously a horse that can handle stressful situations and come out on top. He's a very, very tough horse.

"He is very comfortable on his injured leg and he has a very good appetite, which is important to us after colic surgery."

 
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