Idyllic, who was voted Canada’s Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year at the 2010 O’Brien Awards, has experienced a setback according to trainer Casie Coleman

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Things were setting up nicely for the three-year-old daughter of American Ideal-Magical Dreamer, who had trained in 1:59 just over a week ago and was entered to qualify this past Thursday morning at Mohawk Racetrack. Needless to say, she was conspicuous by her absence.

“Wednesday around noon she was acting uncomfortable and funny in her stall,” Coleman told Trot Insider. We took her out of her stall and walked her around before calling the vet. When the vet arrived he thought she was colicking, so she was treated and she slowly started to come around. But about six o’clock she started fussing again in her stall and biting at her belly. We hooked her in the jog cart and it didn’t take her long to start emptying out and releasing some gas. When she came back in I decided to call the Milton Equine Hospital and get her sent over there.”

The move proved to be a wise one and a timely one, as the staff at the Milton Equine Hospital confirmed when the filly arrived.

“They immediately hooked her to some IV bags and ran a bunch of electrolyte jugs into her,” said Coleman. “They ultra sounded her, too, and the results of the ultrasound weren’t that bad. They were confused because she was acting like she had colic, but after the ultrasound and further examination it didn’t seem like colic. She stayed the night in Milton so they could keep a close eye on her to see how she reacted to further treatment.

“I called them at 8 a.m. the next morning and when I did they advised me she had a rough night and they were recommending surgery", Coleman added. “I asked them if I could come in and jog her because it worked the day before. So my assistant trainer [Anthony Beaton] went over and jogged her at Argyle Farms and she emptied out and released gas right away. Within the next hour or two she was much, much better. They did a blood test on her and it showed that her white count had dropped drastically. After that her temperature started to spike and she was getting diarrhea plus she was in pain and discomfort.”

The colic turned out to be just one of the problems the filly was dealing with. She was also diagnosed with colitis – something Coleman has never had deal with during her career.

“It’s an infection of the bowel and intestines,” said Coleman. They put her on antibiotics and over time her temperature dropped and she started to come around. The colitis was the initial problem, and the colic was the secondary issue.”

Idyllic remained at the Milton Equine Hospital for observation until Saturday morning, at which point Coleman was able to bring her home.

“She’ll remain on antibiotics for the next four days and we plan on going very light on her for the next little bit,” remarked Coleman. “We all understand that we got real lucky with her, but I’m hopeful she’ll bounce back. We’ll miss our first stake race with her, and that was going to be her prep for the Fan Hanover. If she comes around – fine, but if she doesn’t then well wait on her and give her all the time she needs. We’ll do what’s in the best interest of the filly and go from there.”

Idyllic, who went 8-for-9 last season and stashed away earnings of $805,829, is owned by West Wins Stable, Michael Lacova, Joe Lacova and John Campagnuolo.