Joey back in business at Tauranga

Joey Massino capped a remarkable comeback to the track at Tauranga yesterday when he triumphed in the open sprint. The WS-bred son of O’Reilly had been off the scene since a successful three-year-old campaign was cut short by injury.

He underwent surgery to remove a bone chip following the Gr 2 Championship Stakes and then suffered a tendon injury. He finally returned to racing at Ellerslie earlier this month where he finished a luckless eighth after being denied a run in the closing 200 metres. “He’s like the stable pet and to get him back after nearly three years away has been huge for us,” said Jacob McKay, who trains the son of O’Reilly in partnership with his father Peter. “We’ll see how he pulls up after this and just take it a step at a time.”

Winner of the Gr 2 Waikato Guineas and the Gr 3 Wellington Stakes in his classic year, Joey Massino was a $140,000 yearling purchase out of WS’s 2008 Premier Sale draft and is out of the Housebuster mare Rationable. She has been an outstanding producer and is also the dam of the Gr 2 Makybe Diva Stakes winner and Gr 1 Caulfield Cup placegetter Vigor (O’Reilly)and the multiple Listed winner Vincent Mangano (No Excuse Needed).