A repeat tendon injury has ended the racing career of the Cambridge Group One winner Addictive Habit.
Addictive Habit winning the 2015 Gr.1 Livamol Classic at Hastings from Benzini and stablemater Celebrity Miss.
The Colombia seven-year-old, affectionately known around the Lee Somervell stable as Cody, had just begun a comeback from a similar injury 14 months ago and had originally come through his first-up run in the Prime Minister’s Cup at the Gold Coast last weekend in satisfactory order.
But hope turned to despair yesterday morning after Addictive Habit pulled up sore following his work and a subsequent veterinary scan revealed a hole in his off-side tendon. According to Somervell, the tear is about two inches below the previous tear.
Unfortunately such a repeat injury means the end to Addictive Habit’s highly successful career, but, as Somervell points out, it will not mean an end to his ability to compete in the show ring or even as a Clerk of the Course horse.
When announcing the news of the Cambridge Lodge Facebook page, Somervell thanked “the wonderful owners involved in Cody” and also thanked the jockeys Sam Spratt, Danielle Johnson, Michael Cahill and Matt Cameron “for the super rides that have given us memories to cherish.”
Addictive Habit’s biggest highlight came when he won the 2015 Gr.1 Livamol Classic at Hastings when ridden by Spratt, who was also aboard when he won the Gr.2 Lisa Chittick Foxbridge Plate and the second of his two Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Miles at Riccarton in November 2015. Johnson was the rider when he won the Coupland’s Bakeries Mile the previous year.
Six months after his first major Riccarton win, Addictive Habit travelled to Queensland, where Cahill rode him to victory in the Listed Southbank Stakes at the Gold Coast.
Cameron rode Addictive Habit earlier in his career and from eight rides on the versatile performer he picked up four wins, two seconds, a third and a fourth. One of those seconds was a relegation from equal first in the 2014 Listed Taumarunui Gold Cup at Te Rapa.
Addictive Habit, a close relative of the champion Rough Habit, retires with a record of 11 wins and 13 placings from 39 starts and earnings in excess of $770,000.
