Sunday, 22 July 2007:
Weight-for-age star Eremein is once again on the comeback trail after missing the major races of the current season due to injury.
The early favourite for the 2006 Cox Plate, Eremein missed his chance to compete in the Moonee Valley feature when he suffered a mystery ailment put down to muscle soreness.
His autumn campaign was also abandoned early after the problem recurred with tests showing the soreness emanated from the sciatic nerve.
Owner Geoff White is keeping his fingers crossed that Eremein can stand up to a spring campaign with the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup his missions.
"He is back at Allan Denham's stable and so far seems fine," White said.
"He went to the Randwick Equine Centre and Treve Williams went over him thoroughly and could not find any problems.
"He's fine and Allan said he is now trotting and cantering.
"He will start off in the Warwick Stakes as he did last year and hopefully then he will go on to the Cox Plate.
"If he wins that, then we can go to the Melbourne Cup."
The rising six-year-old has been plagued by injury and illness throughout his career but his talent is highlighted by 11 wins from 26 starts, five of those victories at the highest level.
When he was a spring three-year-old, Eremein's life was threatened by a bout of colic but after being nursed back to health he stamped himself as a genuine star with his victories in the Rosehill Guineas and AJC Australian Derby in the autumn.
He missed the spring of 2005 when he required surgery to remove bone chips but was once again to the fore in the autumn when he won Sydney's weight-for-age treble of the Ranvet Stakes, BMW and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Those performances had him earmarked as the logical successor to Makybe Diva until the muscle issue became apparent.
For White and his wife Beryl who have won many of Australia's greatest races, the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup have been nightmares.
Filante was thwarted twice when beaten by the Bart Cummings-trained Saintly in the 1996 Cox Plate and again by a Cummings horse the following year when he was second to Dane Ripper.
Yippyio was among the leading contenders for the 1997 Melbourne Cup but was struck down by travel sickness and underwent a long rehabilitation.
He was back to his best three years later when he won the Brisbane Cup during the winter and finished second to lightweight Brew in the 2000 Melbourne Cup.
Eremein is scheduled to resume in the Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on August 25 as are fellow headliners Desert War and Racing To Win.
