Princess Lunar, the racehorse rescued from a shark-infested canal on the Gold Coast, returns to the track 12 months on

Princess Lunar, the racehorse rescued from a shark-infested canal on the Gold Coast, returns to the track 12 months on
  • PublishedJanuary 4, 2024

It was one of the most weird and wacky incidents in racing history when Princess Lunar got loose from the Gold Coast track and went swimming with the bull sharks in a nearby canal.

The unpredictable mare was saved by starter Kenny Watson, who disrobed and swam after her, creating global headlines as the vision of the incident quickly went viral.

A year on from the madcap scenes, Princess Lunar will front up at the Ipswich races on Saturday where, thankfully, there are no canals nearby.

Trainer Scott Morrisey can now see the funny side of his mare’s crazy antics – but says it left him simply with a red face.

“At the time, people were saying it could be good publicity because I could get more horses to train out of it,” Morrisey said.

Gold Coast starter Kenny Watson rescued Princess Lunar from a canal. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

Gold Coast starter Kenny Watson rescued Princess Lunar from a canal. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

“But one thing is for sure and that is that I didn’t get any more horses to train out of it.

“Looking back now, it was a bit funny but it was also a little bit embarrassing.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.

“She is a pretty hot and lively filly but she had never given any indication she would do something as silly as that.”

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Dumping jockey Tegan Harrison on The Wave day last year, Princess Lunar crashed through a fence and went for a maritime adventure.

The great news was the mare was returned unharmed after her cooling dip, thanks largely to the efforts of Watson who also emerged unhurt but with a few scrapes.

Morrisey now reckons he can pinpoint the moment everything went wrong.

“I told her Tegan to just give the horse a good canter around and keep moving behind the gates, as she had been missing the kick,” Morrisey said.

“What happened looking back now, the horse in front of her was going slowly, when they were leading it out.

“If we could have kept our mare moving at the speed she wanted, nothing would have happened.

“But because we had to slow her down to a speed that she wasn’t happy with, she just threw her toys out of the cot.

“Kenny had already dived in by the time I got to the canal and he and the other staff did a fantastic job.”

Trainer Scott Morrisey with one of his horses. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Trainer Scott Morrisey with one of his horses. Picture: Tertius Pickard

So a year on, what are the chances of Princess Lunar being on her best behaviour and winning a Class 4 dash over 800m at Ipswich on Saturday?

She hasn’t won since scoring on the Gold Coast synthetic track in February, a month after her dramatic canal swim, but Morrisey fancies her prospects on Saturday in a race where she will only face five rivals.

“She’s going really good at the moment, she should have probably won first run back this campaign,” he said.

“She will be hard to beat on Saturday. She is just a really highly strung mare who takes a lot of work

“When she is good, she is good. When she is bad, she is very bad.”

SOURCE: NEWS.COM

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