Extensio to bypass Ebor following Galway disappointment Trainer Pat O’Donnell has given up on his Ebor Handicap bid with Extensio, as his stable star disappointed in a recent run at the Galway festival. Winner of the Sky Bet Stayers Heritage Handicap at York last August, Extensio subsequently completed a hat-trick when scoring over hurdles at Tipperary in October but was absent prior to a comeback run at Killarney in July. While that Killarney run offered encouragement, the eight-year-old disappointed at Galway last Friday, where he trailed the field in the Guinness Premier Handicap. O’Donnell reports “Extensio ran disappointingly at Galway and was found to be clinically abnormal. We think we have got to the root of it and he’s in better spirits. We are looking at two races in Killarney — what used to be the Carling over two miles and a conditions race. “We needed him to finish in the first six or eight to be thinking about York (the Ebor) but he didn’t come home at Galway. We’re still waiting on blood tests, but it wouldn’t be a good idea rolling the dice after a run like that. “We’ll give him an entry in the Irish Cesarewitch and we’ll see. We avoided that the last two years because inevitably you get soft ground and he’s good ground horse. Given the checkered season we are having we’ll give him an entry.” Quotes from Alan Magee
