Plagued with pleurisy this past spring, O’Brien Award winner Secrets Nephew was forced to take the summer off from racing, but Lyle MacArthur has confirmed with Trot Insider that his homebred millionaire pacer is getting ready
for his return.
“Everything is going good,” said MacArthur. “He’s training along good, but he probably won’t be racing for at least another six weeks. I’ve been in 2:20 with him and he seems to be over his sickness. He gained all his weight back and he looks good.”
The seven-year-old son of Camluck-Table For Seven last started in the opening leg of the Spring Pacing Championship at Woodbine Racetrack on March 28, but wasn’t quite his normal self and as a result, MacArthur pulled him up. Secrets Nephew was subsequently taken to the University of Guelph and diagnosed with pleurisy.
While Secrets Nephew will be heading back to the track this fall, his full brother, Secretsothernephew, will be taking some time off.
“I pulled the shoes and quit with him for the year so he won’t surface again until next year,” MacArthur told Trot Insider.
Despite missing one eye, Secretsothernephew made it to the track and put in a few freshman starts this year.
“The whole family has always been better as three and four-year-olds than they have as two-year-olds and he kind of leaned the same way.”
While MacArthur is quick to deter any comparisons between the two brothers, he says Secretsothernephew does have some speed under his belt. But fans will have to wait until next year to see if he can translate his speed into success.