Overdose, the unbeaten racehorse who has become a national hero in Hungary, could miss his debut in England because of sore feet.
The 4-year-old Hungarian-owned horse, who has won 12 straight races, is being treated for the problem in the weeks before his scheduled start in the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park May 23.
"We'll go only if we believe the horse can be at 100%," owner Zoltan Mikoczy told The Associated Press May 5. He said a decision likely would be made later this week.
"If there's even the smallest hope that Overdose can recover in time, then yes, we'll go," said Mikoczy, a Hungarian-Slovak steel merchant who bought the horse at auction in Newmarket, England, for about $3,000 in 2006.
Overdose ran his winning streak to 12 with a victory in last month's OTP Hungarian Nagydij at Kincsem Park in Budapest despite losing a shoe.
"We have taken off his shoes and put some medication on his hooves,"
trainer Sandor Ribarszki said. "He was working very well last week until we noticed that he was in pain on Saturday night, so I took the shoes off and called the vet immediately.
"He will return on Thursday and there will hopefully be no more pus left in his foot and we can get him back working again. If not, then we have to make other plans for Overdose, but I am hopeful of taking him to Haydock at the moment."
Overdose runs under the colors of the Hungarian national flag and is ridden by Belgian-born, French-based jockey Christophe Soumillon.
"I know we are going to come up against some very good sprinters in the Temple Stakes," Ribarszki said. "But if we can get Overdose 100% ready and he makes the journey over in good shape, I think he will be very hard to beat."