A foot ailment is likely to curtail the spring programme of the rising central districts star Dolcetto.

Although not serious, it may prompt trainer Sylvia Kay to take the opportunity to give the five-year-old a break before building toward summer targets

“He had seedy toe and the farrier dug it out and had to go quite a way up and the horse was a bit tentative, but he’s coming right,” she said.

The condition, a separation of the hoof wall, came to light after Dolcetto’s last gallop.

“He’s had a week off now and it might be a good time to give him another three or four weeks off and then come back for the Christmas racing and in January,” said Kay, who also co-bred and part-owns the son of Per Incanto.

“He’s still young and we don’t want to push him too much. There’s so much good racing coming up and he can still go in handicaps.”

Dolcetto has won seven of his 10 starts, the last five in succession culminating in his Group Three success in the Boehringer Ingelheim Metric Mile at Awapuni, where he beat the Group One performer Authentic Paddy.

Although Kay no longer has Dolcetto’s mother Our Shiraz, she does have three other family members in her care.

“I’ve got a two-year-old sister to Dolcetto that’s been broken in and turned out – she’s a lovely filly,” she said.

“There’s also a yearling half-sister by Nadeem and a Road To Rock who’s turned four. He had a jumpout the other day and he’s a big horse who hasn’t got the speed, but we hope he will make a nice stayer.”