HORSE RACING
Azzie’s Abashiri is the latest comeback kid
Azzie’s faith in long rest and a winning bloodline puts five-year-old gelding Abashiri on track to rise again
Sport has witnessed many comebacks and one name that looks set to be added to racing’s list is Abashiri. In 2016, the Michael Azzie inmate became a household name after winning the Triple Crown in Gauteng, but then began the slippery slide that many champions have experienced. An unplaced run in the Vodacom Durban July was followed by the son of Go Deputy finishing last in the Queen’s Plate at Kenilworth in January. The prophets of doom suggested that was the end of the road for Abashiri, who had earned his owner, the late Adriaan van Vuuren, more than R3.4m in stake money. However, Azzie never lost faith in his big-race winner. He gave the five-year-old gelding a 40-week rest and brought him back to the track in a new ownership in the eighth race at Turffontein last Saturday.
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