Cavalryman made it two from two in January, but soon after things took a turn for the worse.

“His temperature was nearly 42 so he’s lucky to be alive,” reinsman Reece Maguire said.

“I thought his run was enormous considering when we got home he was an absolute lather of sweat and nearly on his death bed.

“He was at Wagga for a bit over week as he had to continuously get his lung flushed out and kept a close eye on as he had a severe case of pneumonia.

“It’s something we have never had happen to us but you could tell there was something wrong when we got him off the float.”

He spent a week at CSU before heading out for a spell.

Maguire said he’s been brought back slow but has been pleasing the stable.

After drawing barrier three, Maguire is hoping he can find the front early and take some running down.

“He should be very competitive,” he said.

“He’s had a couple of trials and trialed really well at Leeton then we took him to Coolamon and he was ordinary but we got him check out as he was a bit blocked up inside.

“We cleaned him out and he worked really, really good since.

“We are going in thinking he should give us a good show.”

Maguire and his father Phil, who trains the son of McArdle, were looking to race in the Menangle Country Series heat.

However they were informed they weren’t eligible as he hadn’t had the four required starts or been trained in NSW for the last 12 months.

They also decided against a trip to Eugowra with the four-year-old.

However they will line up Simply Clever and Lucky Artist in heats of the $30,000 feature for C0s on Sunday.

Simply Clever, who has won six of 13 starts, shapes as their best chance.

Maguire has another good shot with Halle Maruia earlier on the card at Wagga.